Fire and Ice
by KythAnDra
Summary: What will happen when Wolfram gives up everything he ever knew to save everyone's lives? To what extend does the fiance of the Demon King offer to sacrifice himself? What is Yuuri going to do? Respect Wolfram wish or defy it?
1. Prologue

This is my first ever fanfic. I just thought I try my luck in this writing business. And this is not Beta-ed so sorry for the unintentional mistake.

Disclaimer : I do not own Kyou Kara Maou. Sadly.

Prologue

"Are you sure we should do this?" A black figure turned around to his partner.

"Are you willing to die should you fail to comply?" The partner asked back.

'_I hate it when she does that.'_ "Fine. We'll do it but you do the summoning. I want nothing to do with that…that…that thing." He shivered at the thought of that.

"Chicken," was his partner only response.

The both of them were standing in front of an ancient structure. The structure was one of the remnants of a civilization that was destroyed eons ago. A civilization before the time of Shinou and the Great Sage, before the Mazoku, before the human. The remnants of the First. The entire monument was covered with vines and moss from years of neglect. There were ruins everywhere. Almost the entire structure had already succumbed to the calling of time. The only thing remained was an altar at the far end of the once temple. And that was their target.

"Hurry up before they realize the baby's gone. I, for one, surely don't want to deal this little imp's mother. We are lucky they fall for the trick," the black figure urged his partner. His hands were holding a small bundle that barely stirred.

His partner looked at him hard as if trying to swallow him whole. "That wasn't a trick, you fool. That was a well-laid plan constructed by me because my partner is a pathetic ass with a pebble for a brain," the partner breathed through gritted teeth at the obvious mocking of her self-proclaimed well-laid plan.

The bundle in the black figure's hands opened his eyes when he heard a voice that wasn't his mother's. Quietly scanning his surrounding, he noticed that the place had not the fluffy pillows that usually surround him back in his crib. The hands that held him also felt different. These hands were not friendly, holding him as he was a sack of potatoes. The smell of the place was terrible, not like the smell of sunflower and jasmine that he was used to. As his brain finally processed the information he had just gathered, he realized that he was not at home. He was not with his family. And he started to feel scared.

"Waaaaaaa!!!"

"What the….." The black figure was so surprised by the baby's sudden wailing he dropped it. Fortunately, his partner was fast enough to catch the baby before he was dropped to the ground.

"You idiot!! What if you dropped and killed the baby? _It_'ll definitely take our lives instead, bakayarou. If you have a death wish, fine, but don't drag me with you. I still have a lot to do, world to see."

Unbeknownst to the two forever bickering partners, an entity was watching them with glee. It could almost feel its much sought prize after all these years. Millennia of waiting in this hellhole. Millennia of waiting to be free. The prize definitely had so much life force in him. It could taste it already in its invisible mouth.

Unable to contain itself any longer, it started to manifest itself in front of the altar waiting it so-called servants. It took its favorite form, the one it obtained from one of its victims, a tall slender woman with flowing titian-red hair. Her appearance was heavenly. Her aqua-blue eyes complement her hair. Her lips were full and rose-red. Her breasts were full and her waist was tiny. She was stark naked but her tresses of red hair covered certain parts of her body strategically. A faint smile was playing in her lips.

When her servants saw her at the altar, they were shocked. Never had she appeared before being summoned. '_She is really excited,_' the black figure mused. If it was him, trapped in this place unable to get out, his mind would go insane. He would not have the capacity to think, let alone have the ability to think about a variety of devious plans to escape.

The baby whose wailing had been simmered to sobs by the expert hands of the black figure's partner started to scream once again. He could feel the evil in the air around him. Second by second the malevolence presence crept on him. He almost choked because the air was suddenly still. He screamed again as a protest. And he was determined that nobody could stop him.

The entity/woman however was really ecstatic to hear the baby's cry. She could taste the Maryoku in his scream and it was abundant. This baby's life force could feed her for a long time. With the smile still tugging at her lips, she said, "Let's begin _Eien Sakusen_."

Human and Mazoku could only imagine what it was like to be alive (well, almost alive) for thousands of years. Those weaklings could only fantasize about eternity and dream about living for it. All they ever thought was how nice to live forever, to achieve all the things that could never be done by the life span of their short lives. No one actually thought about the downsides of living for eternity. The loneliness and the constant fear of death knowing that one had passed the limit of the given time. _'Eternity comes with a prize,'_ she sighed inwardly.

She glided to the front of the long forgotten altar and beckoned for her unwilling servants to come forward. _'That's the advantage of having the power to mind-bend,'_ she chuckles to herself. When the servants were directly in front of her, she stretched out her well-manicured hands and touched the face of the still wailing infant.

"Hmmm…fire element Mazoku. This is jackpot. His intense emotions and his vigor for life will fuel me for the next 500 years," she turned her beautiful face towards her servants,"Although I don't usually compliment underlings, this is a job nicely done. And finding me an infant whose life barely starts, that's pure genius."

"We're glad to be of service, Corintha-sama," the female servants bowed deeply. She was giddy from the compliment as she thought about the plan herself.

Corintha's eyes turned red at that reply. "Don't bother lying to me, you insect. I know you're not actually glad to serve under me," she hissed. The female cowered at the look in her eyes. Satisfied that she had inflicted enough fear in that low-life, she turned her head towards the other one. "Have you gathered everything we need for the ritual?" Corintha asked the male servant, who in her opinion had already developed great fear of her. _'That's alright. It's not like I want them as my worshippers. My new motto, inflict fear whenever can'._

"Y….y….yes my lady. E...ev…everything is in that backpack," pointing to the ground at his feet, the man was praying that he would not be turned into anything supernatural should he screw up. "I…I…I'll set it up f…for you i…if you would allow me." He stuttered. Beads of cold sweat made trails on his back.

"Yes….do so."

Tsuzuku….

Vocabulary:

Eien Sakusen = Eternity's Operation

Bakayarou = You fool/idiot.

A/N : I know this sounds kinda mysterious but everything will unravel itself in due time so be patient. I bet some of you could already guess certain thing. I would love for some reviews….flame or not. It took me almost a month weighing whether I should publish this or not. So..please.


	2. The Start Of It All

The second chapter is up. Not much is being revealed here. Bear with me for a while. Sorry for OCCness. Osakini douzo….enjoy!! Not Beta-ed. Sumimasen..

Disclaimer : I DO NOT own Kyou Kara Maou.

* * *

"Wolfram! Wait!"

"…….."

"Oi, Wolfram, come on, please!"

The said blonde turned to face the one who called him. His emerald eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Tears he had managed to accumulate throughout the years. Tears for his own stupidity, tears for his goofy and wimpy fiancé, tears for their daughter, tears for the family he had always dreamt of but could never call his own.

"What, you pathetic excuse for a wimp?" He spat the words out like venom. Honestly, he was just tired of keeping up a I-don't-care-whether-you-love-me-or-not-but-I-love-you-anyway façade.

Yuuri was taken aback by the sheer resentment of the reply. True, Wolfram had been calling him a 'wimp' for as long as he could remember but never in that context and never in that tone. It was as if Wolfram had snapped.

"Wolf, I…I….," Yuuri couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Heck, he hadn't even figured out the sentence yet. His mind chose that particular moment to switch off.

Wolfram sighed. '_That is so Yuuri. So pathetic, so wimpy, so pathetically wimpy…'_. He sighed again. He needed to keep his temper and his emotion in check. "Or it will be the death of you, my beautiful prince," someone had told him that. _'But, who?'_ Besides, it was all over. His life as he knew it. He breathed deeply.

"What do you want from me, Yuuri Heika? If there is anything I can help you with, please do not hesitate to tell me so," Wolfram bowed his head slightly before Yuuri. The soukoku was stunned. He actually recoiled at such display of respect from his accidental fiancé.

"What are you doing, Wolfram? Why are you bowing to me? You've never done anything remotely respectful to me ever since I've known you." _'Ooops…wrong things to say'._

"Well….Heika. There is always a first time for everything. Besides, considering the fact that my hearing is not yet impaired, I believe that I am nothing more than a subject and a loyal soldier to you. If I remember the lesson on etiquette correctly, that requires me to behave in certain level of respect towards you. Oh…..and please forgive my earlier outburst. I promise you that from today onward, such vulgar display of emotion will not happen again."

Yuuri was dumbstruck. It took quite a while for him to piece together everything Wolfram had just said. _'Oh shit, he heard me…..no wonder there was a blacken flower by the door.'_ The realization hit him like cold water.

How was he going to get out of the hole he himself had dug with his own hands? How was he going to explain it to the blonde without him hurtling some nasty insults or worst….some fireballs at him. Wolfram's temper could never differentiate between a commoner and a monarch. Everyone was the same to his temper. _'Eh….matte…matte….matte yo! Rewind that scene a little bit. Didn't Wolfram just apologize for his behavior? And didn't he just said that that would be his last….what words did he use? vulgar display of emotion? OK…I am officially confused. Did Wolfram just give up on me? But…..he never gives up on anything no matter how hopeless the situation is? So what gives?'_

"Wolfram, please. I want you to give me….." Yuuri's pleading was cut short when he saw the blond shaking from fury. Wolfram's clear emerald eyes now turned a shade darker, like the sea in the middle of the storm. Yuuri fancied seeing twenty-foot waves crashed against one another in Wolfram's eyes.

"I have nothing more to give you, Heika. I've given you my love but all you did was flung it back at my face. I've given you my heart but you threw it back to me, broken. I've given you my trust but it only took a sentence from you to destroy it. At least, let me keep my pride," Wolfram was now visibly straining to keep his composure. But what was the use losing his dignity in front of someone who obviously didn't appreciate anything he ever did.

"But don't worry. I gave you my words before that I will protect you and stay loyal to you, that when you fall, I'll fall with you. As I hard as I found it to be, not to mix my emotions and my responsibility, I assure you that your safety and your well being will always be the top priority. If you'll excuse me, Heika, I have an afternoon training session with my troops," Wolfram bowed before the confused monarch, taking three steps backwards before turning his body around and walked towards the certain darkness of his life.

"…..". _'What gives?'_

****

Wolfram clutched his chest where his heart was or used to be before that stupid wimpy king broke it and then trampled on it until all that was left was fine dust. _'Stop being over-dramatic, Wolf,'_ he admonished himself,_'……well on second thought, over-dramatic IS my middle name'_. He laughed at his own stupid joke and wondered whether Conrart's lameness in telling joke had finally rubbed on him. _'Maybe it runs in the family….haha.'_ Honestly, was he going crazy?

He would love to lay all the blame on his fiancé or ex-fiancé, whichever suited. Seeing how he refused to accept Wolfram's love or to accept him as his rightful fiancé albeit an accidental one, Yuuri should be blamed for all the heartache and for all his sadness and for all his pain. But, sadly, Wolfram knew, he brought all these upon himself. He should've known better, of course, that Earth and Shin Makoku were two very different worlds. _'Emphasize on the __very __'_, he thought wryly. That it wasn't easy for someone as young and naïve as Yuuri to change easily according to their customs. He should've realized that even if Yuuri was willing to change for his country, there were still some things that he would find difficult to accept. One of those things was the relationship between two people form the same sex. _'So, I guess in the end, the only person I can lay all the blame on is me. That figures,'_ Wolfram sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

He sat up on his bed, his own bed on which he used to sleep before the arrival of the Maou five years ago. After tossing and turning on the bed, largely blaming the scratchy sheet, he gave up on sleeping. There was no way in Shin Makoku that he could sleep giving the predicament he was in. The one he brought upon himself.

'_There is no other way to solve this. From the point where I stand, there are only a few options available. Oh wait, scratch the lots of them because they involve dying or leaving him, which I cannot do since I gave him my word that I'll protect him. Tsk, me and my big mouth. Wait! That means there is only one option viable. Arghh, shit. Since when did I become this selfless person? The person I used to be would definitely not hesitate to do all those things. Ah, well! I do value my life as it is. So it is settled then.'_

Wolfram stared at the total blackness engulfing everything outside his bedroom windows. Somehow he knew starting from tomorrow his life would be very difficult to go through. But let tomorrow be tomorrow. Tonight, he should enjoy it as it was; get some well deserved rest and make sure he had enough energy to go through hell which would be tomorrow. He lay on his bed again; feeling quite pleased with his accomplishment and started to close his eyes.

"……."

After 657,456 sheep, '_Damn, I can't sleep.'_

****

A few door down from the Throne Room, a black figure sat on a couch near the French windows of his bedchamber. The figure had his hands cradling his head. His body swayed deliberately, as if such movement could help him solve whatever matters residing in that mind of his.

Yuuri was confused (when was he not?). He knew that he somehow had managed to push Wolfram over the edge, over the point of no return. A feat he had managed to avoid for the past 5 years. Truth be told, he liked the golden-haired boy, he was his best friend for crying out loud. For half a decade, Wolfram was always willing to sacrifice himself in order to save him. Yuuri was truly grateful for that, really, he was. But to see him in a new light, as a lover, was something he had not been able to bring himself to do. Yes, he knew that such relationship was common in Shin Makoku. But nothing could change the fact that he was born and raised on Earth and on Earth, such relationship was frowned upon and not even tolerated in some countries.

Now, his one-sided mild relationship (since Wolfram obviously wanted more than that) came to an end. All because of that stupid tantrum he threw at Gwendal and Günther. All because he had to find a Royal Consort. All because of that stupid custom of a maximum 5-years-ruling without a consort. Who came out with that stupid idea anyway? Queen Elizabeth I didn't marry until the end of her reign (unless you considered marrying a country counts). He was just 20 for Shinou' sake. Too young to be tied down to one person. Especially if the said person was a boy, _'or a man or a grandfather, given he's already 88 years old. Who cares anyway?' _he mumbled.

But deep down inside, he did care. He couldn't imagine life without Wolfram. Wolfram and his constant "Cheater" or "Wimp" shouting. Wolfram and his "Hmmpph". Wolfram and his cute pout. Wolfram and his…..

'_Yuuri, snap out of it,'_ he told himself. It was not like him to keep on thinking about Wolfram like that. Why would he think like that about Wolfram? Wolfram was just a friend, a good friend. Or…was he more than that? His head spun wildly.

"Arrgghhhh!!! Why is this happening to me?" his scream echoed through the huge room.

Greta, who was on the border of reality and dreamland, startled.

"Is everything alright, Yuuri?" she asked rather sleepily and annoyed because the scream made her miss the train to wonderland.

"Oh, nothing really, Greta. Sorry about that. Go back to sleep."

'_Damn!!!!'_

****

Elsewhere…

Smoke was billowing up the burned village. Chaos reigned. Panic spread wildly like a pandemic. Screams could be heard as the trapped tried to get out. Survivors were busy finding water or anything that could be used at all, trying to put out the fire and saved their family, lovers, friends and neighbours. Desperation tainted their faces.

But, fire by magic could only be put out by water that was summoned by magic. Alas, the villagers were either half Mazoku or humans, none could wield Maryoku. So, no matter how much they struggled, how much they tried, their effort just went down the drain. Eventually, the survivors just gave up and could only watch in horror as the fire continued raging, burning everything in its path, with the screams of the doomed as the background music.

They were taken by surprise. No one knew how and where the fire started. One minute everybody was in bed, busily dreaming, and the next minute everybody was running for their lives. Those who were lucky enough managed to crawl out of the village and sought shelter near the river. For the survivors, being near the river was somehow a bless and a curse. Bless because if the fire still continued onward after smoldering their village, they could just jump into the river. The current at this time of year was not that strong. Curse, for although they were near the one source that could be used to put out normal fire, they were unable to do so. All they could do now was pray. Tried not to throw up from the smell of human flesh burning and tried to tune out the horrible screams.

Amidst the screams of pain, an inhuman sound could be heard cackling, its foul voice reverberating throughout the hell-like village. The mysterious being started to hum something akin to a lullaby, only it was more like a death threat to someone unlucky enough.

_When your heart is broken and in pain,_

_That's the moment I am free again,_

_To search, to find, to kill the one,_

_To control the soul it's so much fun._

_Like it or not, I'm here to stay,_

_To torment you it's just a play,_

_Before I'm finished, you'll beg to die,_

_Or hope that it's all just a lie._

The hair on the back of the survivors' necks stood up.

Mata tsuzuku..

Vocabulary:

Matte (root word matsu) = wait/hold on

* * *

A/N: Thank you for those who reviewed (only 2…*cries*). This is for you guys as a token of appreciation. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think. I think I can handle it (I think….). Update might not come out for quite some time. Feel free to speculate (not much to speculate, anyway). Oh..and please review. Jya…mata.


	3. Red Dusk

Omatase shimashita. I was having difficulties uploading the file. As usual, not Beta-ed so forgive me if there is any mistake. Might be a little OOC. Enjoy.

Usual disclaimer applies. I only own the plot and certain characters. ( I wish I own Wolfram though)

* * *

Wolfram pulled himself out of the bed, grumpily. He hadn't been able to close his eyes for more than 30 seconds. Originally not a morning person even if he had a 10-hour sleep, he was in a foul mood this morning. Grudgingly, he made his way to the water closet at the end of the room. After a quick splash here and there, he half-heartedly changed into his usual blue uniform. His mind kept thinking who was going to be at the receiving end of his grumpiness today.

During breakfast, he had Greta switched place with him. That action brought frowns to the foreheads of those who were watching, excluding Greta, who was ecstatic to sit between her fathers. Not wanting to cause a commotion, especially when they saw how pale and out of place the blonde was, everyone just continued eating their breakfast in silence. Only Murata who was joining them instead of being at Shinou Temple (for one particular reason; not wanting to help the shrine maidens), seemed unaffected. He had that gleam on his glass.

Yuuri, on the other hand, knew exactly what caused Wolfram to carry those eye bags. It was him. Not that he had a good night sleep either. But at least he managed to get a 2-hour snooze just before dawn. He suspected Wolfram didn't even get a wink last night. All because of him. _'And what is it with this silence? It's driving me nuts,'_ he screamed in his head.

The pregnant pause was broken a few minutes later with the approaching sounds of footsteps in a hurry. A second later, there was a knock on the door.

"Yes, you may enter," Gwendal answered sulkily. He was not pleased with the intrusion of one of his private time.

Two soldiers came into view, huffed and puffed. One of them carried an almost crumpled parchment in his hands. Both of the soldiers were new and definitely in the state of panic.

"Colonel Huryst asked us to give this to you, my Lord. Pardon me if it is a little bit crumpled," the one who was holding the piece of paper held out his hands towards Gwendal.

Gwendal nodded and took the parchment from the trembling hands. "Anything else?" he asked. "If none, you're dismissed."

"Yes, there is. He also said that we are ready should you feel the need to embark now," both of them bowed deeply before turning on their heels and disappeared behind the door.

"What ?" Gwendal was confused. He looked at Conrart and Günther, hoping the two would know the answer.

Conrart just smiled his not-really-there smile.

Günther just shrugged.

"I think the answer to that is in your hand, brother," Wolfram said without even looking up from his almost empty plate. He thought one would not have any appetite at all after a sleepless night, but he found himself famished to the point of wanting to eat the plate itself. "You're not actually thinking that it is a love letter from Colonel Huryst, are you?" Wolfram innocently licked the spoon until it was shiny again. _'Yep, the first victim of my grumpiness.'_ He could tell however that it was not a wise idea to pick on his eldest brother this early in the day.

Gwendal felt a vein throbbing upon hearing his brother 'smart' remark but chose to ignore it. He hastily unfolded the parchment and began reading it. As seconds passed however, the vein was joined by four more. His look did not go unnoticed. Conrart was already at his side while Günther was looking at him, a hard look plastered on his face. Wolfram stopped licking his spoon, body poised for anything unexpected. Murata stopped eating altogether, waiting eagerly for the news. Even Yuuri, with his usual obliviousness, was concerned. Only Greta appeared unaware, happily eating her soufflé-like dessert.

After what seemed like forever, Gwendal finally looked up from the parchment, his face scrunched into something eerily resembled shock. Even Conrart, who usually had his trademark smile on, was looking troubled. Yuuri, sensing something terrible had happened judging from the sudden change in the air, turned to his daughter.

"Greta, would you mind helping Gisela collects some herbs in the greenhouse today?" he asked his daughter. Wolfram just nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, maybe after that you could make me your famous flower crown?" he chipped in, smiling at her sweetly.

"Oh…alright," Greta quickly stuffed her last portion of dessert into her mouth. She knew something was up so she didn't question anything. After kissing Yuuri and Wolfram, leaving trails of cream on their cheeks, she skipped out the room in search of Gisela.

"Let's go to my office," Gwendal declared while standing up. Behind him, three maids sighed in disappointment.

* * *

Just as the last person entered and the door closed, Gwendal turned around to face his audience. Conrart was standing close to him, donning a calm façade amid the grimness of the situation.

"There was a fire in one of the village in the von Radford's land last night," Gwendal began.

"What?!! Just a fire?!" Grumpy Wolfram couldn't stop himself from blurting out and that earned him a stern look from his older brother. That immediately shut him up. Conrart just shook his head at his baby brother.

Gwendal continued," This 'just fire', Wolfram, completely destroyed the village of Cyndwal, killing two-third of the villagers. Apparently, there is nothing left standing. Lord von Radford has already dispatched his men to the village but…."

No one was listening anymore. Yuuri was already on the nearest chair, unable to stand any longer. Wolfram's grumpy attitude was gone, replaced by concerned. Günther had his back on the wall, visibly straining for composure. Only Murata seemed unfazed but the gleam on his glass said otherwise.

"T-two-third?" Yuuri was having difficulty saying the right words.

"But brother, there must be some mistakes. It couldn't be that many, right? That village has a population of over 3000," Wolfram was horrified. Of course he knew that in wars, the death tolls could reach hundreds of thousands. But they were soldiers. They were taught to be prepared for the worse. The villagers, however, didn't have the mindset of a soldier. _'They were innocent. They weren't prepared. They must've been very scared.' _

"I'm afraid it is what was written. I don't think Lord von Radford would've made such mistake concerning this grave matter," Gwendal explained. He felt the urge to knit badly now.

"Has anyone claimed to be responsible, Gwendal?" Günther asked, walking towards the advisor, who was massaging his throbbing forehead.

"No, no yet as of the moment the letter was written. However, they were reports that the people responsible were there. The survivors on several accounts told the investigators that they heard a voice singing a threat to an unknown person. And one other thing, the fire was caused by magic. That's why the death tolls were huge. They weren't unable to put it out," Gwendal sorely wanted to drink something strong to ease his stress.

Meanwhile, Murata was deep in his thought. He tried contacting Shinou for any information but the prankster seemed not in the mood to answer. _'Fine, if you don't want to help me,'_ he sulked.

"Lord von Voltaire, if my memory serves me right, Cyndwal is located quite far from von Radford's castle. How could he respond so quickly? Did one of the victims ride off for help?" Murata inquired.

"I'm not quite sure." In fact there was a lot of thing that he wasn't sure of. And he loathed this feeling of helplessness.

"We go there," Yuuri suddenly shot up from his chair. Every pair of eyes turned to look at him. "Come on, you guys, we can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to help," his voice was laced with determination. As the 27th Maou, he had to do something if anything happened to his subjects.

The rest just looked at him as if he had just sprouted antennae on his forehead. Of course they would help. What did the Maou take them for? Evidently, all the other commanding officers thought so too as the preparation for the embarkation was almost complete.

"What?" Yuuri was confused. Was it wrong to go and aid his countrymen?

"Hmmpph," Wolfram silently pouted. _'Once a wimp, always a wimp.'_

* * *

After a half-day ride to the von Radford's territory (and after countless stops for Yuuri to ease his backache. "Come on, Yuuri. It's been five years," Murata had berated the irksome monarch), they finally reached the burnt village. Makeshift tents were set up on the west of the village where nearby a river was running. Soldiers wearing white and red uniforms were busy helping the wounded. Gisela, upon seeing this, turned to Yuuri, her eyes asking for his permission to help. Yuuri just nodded, not really paying attention to the green-haired lady, but rather to the total devastation spread in front of him.

Alberlin von Radford, who was busy commanding his men of the ongoing investigation, saw the contingent from Shin Makoku. Holding his hand up to his subordinates, he made his way to the grim looking lot.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, Lord von Voltaire, Lord von Christ, Lord Weller, Lord von Bielefeld," he bowed slightly.

Gwendal dismounted his horse and handed the rein to one of the waiting soldiers. The others followed suit.

"Lord von Radford," Gwendal started."I believe we have grave matters to discuss."

"Yes, I believe we do and while we're doing that, I think you should witness first hand the extent of the damage on this village. This way please," Alberlin led the way towards the charred remain of the once picturesque village.

Yuuri thought he had seen the worst when Saralegui gave the power of the Holy Sword to Janeus and nearly destroyed Shin Makoku. But even that didn't prepare him to the horror that lay sprawled in front of his eyes. Countless bodies were charred beyond recognition, in all available sizes. Some of them, were still hugging each other, obviously desperate to find comfort in the hellish moment. Tears welled in his eyes; he could feel the Maou inside him struggling to get out, to deliver justice. _'Calm down, you. Even if you went berserk here, the perpetrators had already gone. You'll end up hurting the innocent.'_ Yuuri tried to soothe the enraged soul inside. Silent. Then, '_Yeah, you're right. I'll calm down for now. But if we managed to find the one responsible, let me deal with it.'_ And with that, the Maou stopped stirring and back to his slumber albeit a restless one.

"We've found countless evidence that this was done by one person. First of all, if it were the work of bandits, they would steal first and then create a furor before burning the village down. The survivors didn't report such a ruckus. Secondly, we didn't find any horse tracks leading in or out of the village. We did, however, find footsteps, one set of it….." Alberlin looked unsettled.

"What is it, Lord von Radford?" Murata inquired. He had seen that look countless of time during his previous reincarnations and it never bode well.

"The footsteps….I don't think it's human or Mazoku," he finished lamely.

"What do you mean? Does it have three toes….a web on its feet…claws….? What??!!" Wolfram was frustrated when Alberlin kept shaking his head. He got an ominous look from Gwendal the Big Brother. That made him shut up.

"The footsteps were normal. The problem is the trail….it was like the person was engulfed in flame. The grass alongside the trail was burnt to cinder. And then there is this gooey substance on the trail. It's something I have never seen."

Conrart was the first one to recover from shock. "You meant to say that it has the appearance of a human or Mazoku but not really one?" _'That could spell trouble.'_

Alberlin nodded weakly. He was up from the wee hour and minute by minute, the investigators' findings only led to more question. "I already sent a troop to retrace the track and hopefully we could find the thing's lair……" he closed his eyes.

Günther noticed that the older man wasn't exactly finished."I gather there is still something else?" he asked politely.

Alberlin slowly opened his eyes. "Initially, I thought since the thing had left us a rather clear trail, I wanted to send a troop out to follow it and maybe stop it from doing this unspeakable act again."

"And why didn't you?" Yuuri opened his mouth for the first time since he arrived in Cyndwal.

"Because the footsteps just vanished when it reached the village square."

"What??!!" Six pairs of eyes looked at him with open mouth.

"You're kidding," Yuuri and Murata said simultaneously.

"No, I'm not. And that is what made me pretty sure that we're dealing with something ……supernatural."

Gwendal weighed Alberlin's words. No human or Mazoku he knew (or didn't know for that matter) could've vanished just like that. He turned around to face Alberlin.

"Lord von Radford, how exactly did you manage to assist the victims so quickly? Cyndwal is well outside Radford's town district," he voiced the question on behalf of Murata.

Alberlin's face was incomprehensible. Silent reigned for a while.

"Err ……did one of the survivors ride off to your castle?" Murata added.

More silence.

"Your Excellency?"

"No …..Your Highness. One of my guards saw it," was his reply.

"S-saw? But that is impossible. Cyndwal was over 10 kilometres from your castle," Murata was horrified. He knew, deep down, that it was possible if the fire was….

"Kilo-miter? What's kilo-miter?" Wolfram, with his cute face scrunched in confusion turned to face Yuuri for an answer but remembered that he was in a cold war (of his designation) with Yuuri. So he closed his mouth. _'I'll ask Conrart later.'_

"It is possible, Your Highness, if the fire was so big you practically could burn the mountain in it. Oh…and did I mention that it was summoned by magic?"

_'Who's powerful enough to generate such power?'_ Murata mused. _'Shinou, where are you?'_

"I think we should go and see the survivors," Yuuri suddenly spoke up. He just didn't have the stomach to stay there any longer, not with the sea of corpses in front of him.

Agreeing with Yuuri's suggestion, they walked in single file silently. No one had the heart to make any sound. The devastation was real. The smell was real. The pain was real. For those who had lived through the war 25 years ago, the situation was just like their worst nightmare come true, again.

They helped with making more makeshift tents. There were about 100 already set up but they still needed more to accommodate the survivors. In the distance, sounds of hooves could be heard.

"I think the recon troop has returned," Alberlin looked up from the piece of canvas he was holding."Let's go to the command centre."

When they arrived, the soldiers had just dismounted their horses and were looking rather grave. They bowed deeply to them. One of them, the leader of the troop, stepped up and started reporting the findings.

"We followed the tracks to well outside the von Radford's territory into the von Bielefeld's. There, we tracked it into a thick forest near Rallin village."

"The Forlorne Forest," Wolfram whispered. Of course he knew his own territory.

Gwendal paled.

"The path led deeper into the forest. Then we arrived to a clearing. In the middle of it, we saw….."

"Ruins of temples," Günther finished. He too looked sick. Sweat came running down his forehead, plastering his mauve-colored hair to his face.

"Y-yes," the soldier nodded.

"How do you know, Günther? Have you ever been there?" Yuuri asked.

"Erm …no. Just a lucky guess," he replied back. Nobody actually believed it. But they just kept quiet. Günther eyes searched for Gwendal's, and when they found them, held them for a while. Gwendal just nodded. Günther then turned to Alberlin.

"Lord von Radford, can I get a sample of the substance from the trail?" he requested.

"Understand. I'll get one of the healers to get it for you." Günther nodded in agreement.

Conrart turned his attention to the soldier."Did you post some of your men there?" he asked.

"Yes, my lord. I posted six of them." The leader nodded politely.

"That's enough for now. We don't want to alert the thing."

"Your Excellency, I'll leave some of my men behind to help out. In the meantime, we will head back to Blood Pledge Castle. There are a few things that need to be looked into. I will also be sending food and basic stuff from there." Gwendal bowed slightly to the older man. "If there is any news from your men, please let us know."

* * *

"We'll set up camp here tonight," Soldier-1 told his comrades. They were on a small mound near the entrance of the ruins. The thickness of the growth surrounding the place gave them sufficient cover from anybody who passed the gate. The others nodded in agreement. "We'll guard in 2s and change shift every 2 hours."

The sun had already began her descent. They had changed guards three times. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen or heard. Nonetheless, they kept an open eyes and ears. With each changing shifts, they wrote reports to their commanding officer.

Three more hours had passed. The warm light from the sun no longer reached the place they were camping. Still, nothing happened. Soldier-1 decided that the _'thing'_ wouldn't be coming back to its lair tonight. He was about to write a summary of all the reports they had been sending when suddenly he heard shouting, followed by a piercing scream. It was like someone ran his fingernails on the blackboard and then amplified the sound ten times. Then, silence.

"What the hell was that?" Soldier-2 asked him, eyes darting in the darkness. His knuckles were already white from holding the hilt of the sword tightly. So were the rest of them. They couldn't ascertain the fate of the other two who were keeping eyes on the entrance at the moment.

Then, they heard rustling of grass from behind. Seconds later, their comrades emerged from the darkness. One of them was supporting the other. Blood ran down their uniform. The supported soldier was bleeding from a wound on his abdomen that looked like he had been mauled by a sand bear.

"What is it?" Soldier-2 asked. His hands quickly flew to his injured comrade, trying to stop the bleeding.

"I-I don't know. It was dark and suddenly he fell," Soldier-3 answered back. His eyes were wild. True, he couldn't see what had attacked his friend, but the injury plus the scream really scared him to death. Of course, he knew that they were soldiers and were prepared to battle and die in battlefield, but to fight the unknown; that was what really scared him.

"I-I s-saw it," Soldier-4 was straining to get his words out but he felt that his friends needed to know what they were up against. "I-it looked like a-a human b-but it had t-talons on its h-hands instead fingers."

"Like these, you mean?" A voice in the dark suddenly said.

Soldier-3 turned his head around but he was too late. Powerful talons were thrust into his body and he could hear a ripping sound as the talons were pulled back out, taking with them a part of his backbone. In fact, that was the last thing he ever heard.

The rest if them retreated a little bit. There was nothing they could do for their fallen comrade but at least they could save the each other. When the body was flung aside, they could clearly see what attacked them only for a fleeting second. Then, the humanoid body just disappeared into thin air. The next thing they knew, Soldier-4's neck was nearly severed, bleeding with three claw marks . He was no longer breathing.

"Cover me up. Lord von Radford needs to know what's happening here," Soldier-1 regained his composure long enough to start thinking rationally. He desperately wrote his urgent message and then tied it onto a pigeon's foot. "Fly safe ….and fly fast," he whispered to the bird before letting it go.

When he looked up again, all his comrades was already dead. Body parts were strewn everywhere. One of them was still hovering in mid-air. And then to his dismay, the bird caught on fire when a red shot of energy was released from a point in front of him.

"So ……you've been sending reports back, huh? You shouldn't have done that, you know. I don't want them to find me just yet. I want to play a little bit before I move in for the kill," Corintha finally materialized in front of Soldier-1 in her true form. "Do you like it?" she teased.

"….Oh ….my ….god." Screams and then silence.

"Now let me finish your job for you," she drawled.

* * *

"Colonel, there's another message from the surveillance troop," a soldier ran in with a small piece of paper.

"Give it to me." He opened the paper and began reading.

_Sir,_

_There seems to be no movement at all. Would like to ask for permission to cease contact unless something happen._

_Corporal Vandauer_

"Send a reply saying permission granted," he quickly decided. There was no need to alert Lord von Radford about this, he thought. He was unaware that the letter was laced with magic, making the reader do the bidding of the sender.

* * *

Corintha had just read the message delivered to her. "What a bunch of imbeciles," she laughed weakly. She was tired from all the killing, from the excess use of her power. Although when she set the village on fire she effectively killed thousands, without a proper ritual, the power she obtained won't last her for more than a week.

"So there must be more killing before I could do it, huh?," she sighed. But not today. Today she was exhausted. She needed to rest for a little bit until she regained what was left of her power.

"But now, what should I do with these bloody puppets?"

* * *

A/N: I initially intended to make the killing scene a little bit more gruesome but I'm not sure how the readers would react. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please R&R, flame or no flame. Next chapter: Confusion Reigns.


	4. Confusion Reigns

Another update. Enjoy. Not Beta-ed. Sorry for any OOC.

Usual disclaimer applies.

* * *

"So, what do you think of this, Annissina?" They had all rushed to the scientist lab as soon as they arrived at the Blood Pledge Castle. Everyone was eager to know what they were dealing with.

Annissina, pleased with all the attention, took the vial of the reddish substance form Günther's hand and hold it towards the light to see it clearly. The substance, which was glowing brightly a while ago, now started to dim substantially when the sunlight touched it.

"Hmm, it seems that it's afraid of sunlight. A weakness, yes, but not to the point of obliteration. This is fascinating," she mused.

Gwendal's left eye was twitching. "Well…. it's good that you've discovered its weakness and all, but what is it exactly?" he desperately wanted to know but at the same time he was afraid to hear about it. Afraid that the nightmare from long ago had somehow managed to repeat itself. _'Thank Shinou, Mother is not here.'_

Annissina closed her eyes for a moment. Her brain was actively searching for a device that could be used in the situation.

"I got it," she suddenly ran to a cabinet full of weird looking inventions. There she pulled put an odd looking machine; a device that was a cross between a weight and a blender.

"Let me introduce you to 'Nothing-I-Don't-Know Kun'. The mechanic is simple. Just put anything you want to test inside this _bender_. The bender then will separate the test subject to the smallest part. After that, the part under it will begin to analyze each small part. Then, it will summarize every result and lo and behold, the result will appear. The chance of success is more than 90%," Annissina excitedly explained the working of the machine to no one in particular.

"It's a blender, Annissina," Yuuri said under his breath. He was the one who gave it to her last year after she kept complaining it was tiring to smash the herbs to pulp for Gisela. He thought she could study the inner machinery and then reinvent it so it would not be dependent to electricity.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty?" Annissina turned to Yuuri with a look that clearly said 'I-Dare-You-To-Correct-Me-Again." Yuuri got the message and just shook his head vigorously.

Gwendal, Günther and Wolfram started backing away when they saw the machine, as much as they wanted to know the substance, they still loathed being strapped to a machine, not knowing whether the last meal they took would literally be their last or not.

"Ah….. I can see that my guinea pigs are getting anxious. No worries… no worries. I have my other invention to help me out. Let me see… where is it?" she searched one of the drawers of her desk.

"Yes, here it is. 'Bat-array' kun. You just store the Maryoku in it and when you want to use a particular machine, for example, this," she held the Nothing-I-Don't-Know kun upside down, revealing a small slot at the bottom of it, "You just put it in and it will work."

"'Bat-array'?!" Murata was confused. "Oh… you meant to say _battery_," he added helpfully.

"No…. I mean what I said. 'Bat-array'," Annissina shot Murata a murderous look.

"OK… OK… my bad." _'You're not collecting bats, silly.'_

"So, let's begin shall we?"

Carefully she poured the content of the vial into the blender. Pushing the 'ON' button, she stepped back a little and waited. A full two minutes later, the machine stopped analyzing and a length of paper was spewed from the side of the weight. The red-haired scientist took the paper and started to study it.

"Hmm…. this is weird," a frown was forming across her forehead. She was no longer cocky.

"What is?" Gwendal asked sternly. He was in no mood to play games with her.

"It seems that the substance is not a native of this world."

"Eh??!!" Yuuri and Wolfram both gaped at Annissina.

"How can you be sure?" Günther could feel his heart beating faster with every passing minute.

"Well… I AM a scientist, not that you wanted to acknowledge that. Don't bother denying it," she added when she saw Yuuri trying to say something. "Throughout these years, I've accumulated every specimen ever known to human and Mazoku alike. I even have in my possession a few rare samples. From all these samples, I can make one important conclusion; as long as they are from this world, they will share at least one common component, namely _tandsoh_ or carbon as you say it on your languages, Your Majesty."

"Are you saying that…,"Murata was unable to finish his sentence. _'Not a carbon-based life form?'_

"This reddish substance is not from this world or yours for that matter," she finished Murata's sentence, rather annoyed at having to repeat herself.

"No wonder it's weak against sunlight," Günther said quietly.

All of a sudden, Murata walked towards the door. "Excuse me but I have some business I need to attend to," he said without turning his back, and walked out of the room.

"Günther and I also need to discuss something," Gwendal too started to walk out of the room followed closely by Günther. "Conrart, you stay here and keep an eye on those two brats," Gwendal whispered to Conrart when he was directly in front of his younger brother.

Those who were left in the room were silent. Annissina was deep in thought. She needed to figure something out so she shooed the rest of them out of her lab and locked the door behind them.

"Well…. we're officially a nuisance huh, Wolfram?" Yuuri looked over his shoulder to see that Wolfram had already walked away. _'Shit, I forgot.'_

* * *

"Conrart, are you sure they will be alright?" Yuuri suddenly asked. He had just finished his sword training with the brunette.

"You mean the survivors, Your Majesty?"

"Yes. And the name is Yuuri, nazukeoya."

"Hait… hait… Yuuri. Of course they will be fine. Physically and economically, I mean. But they will need a lot of help from the _Shinri Gakushas_, or psychologists to heal mentally," Conrart calmly explained.

"Whoaa, there are psychologists here?" Yuuri turned to Wolfram, politely inviting him in the conversation.

Wolfram, who was still furious at Gwendal about his order to always stick to Conrart's side no matter what, accidentally set the towel he was holding on fire when he heard Yuuri's voice addressing him. He seriously contemplating whether to hurl some nasty reply or just politely answer him. 'Tsk_, I forgot. I've already promised him,'_ he remembered suddenly. He turned around to face him.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Some of the healers were trained to be Shinsya as we call them. Others like Gisela were trained to serve in the army," he replied respectfully.

Conrart, who was cleaning his sword, looked up when he heard the conversation. He just couldn't believe his ears. What had happened between those two? The usual Wolfram would reply something with the word 'wimp' in it. Not this overly-polite (for Wolfram) respond. And then, Yuuri would answer in his usual annoyed or rather whiny voice 'I'm not a wimp' or something like that. He looked questioningly at Wolfram.

Wolfram saw the look his brother was giving him but chose to ignore it. The reason why the annulment of the engagement was still unknown was because they were so busy yesterday nobody had thought twice about it. Not that it wasn't important but in comparison with the recent event, it was just not on the top priority list. _'Well, at least I could enjoy one more day before I am hauled back into the market with all that hideous and cumbersome parties. Thank Shinou, Mother is on her Free Love trip.'_

"Conrart," Wolfram began, ignoring the look from his brother," If you and Your Majesty still need to get some practice, would you mind doing it near my training ground. I want to get some training done and only Shinou knows what my guards are doing right now. And I also need to catch up on the training we had lost yesterday," he explained. In truth, he needed to do something or his heart was going to burst, watching Yuuri from such a close distance. 'Yuuri would never understand how it feels like to love someone so much but not to get the feeling returned,' he clutched his heart. These past few days, his heart was acting rather strange. It wasn't in pain but it felt like something was tugging at it, wanting to take control of it. Wolfram however just dismissed it as the side-effect of having his heart broken.

Conrart turned to Yuuri. "Is it alright with you, Yuuri? Or do you want to call it a day?"

"Hmm…. I'm quite tired actually." Wolfram face fell. It was his words against the king. If Yuuri wanted to rest, then he had no choice but to follow since Conrart needed to play babysitter to the both of them. Actually, he could just ignore Gwendal's command and still go to training whether Conrart followed him or not. But, unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood to disobey order.

Conrart, though, was tossing a baseball repeatedly to the air. He did this as if he had no intention of doing it but he was giving Yuuri an idea about playing baseball subconciously. The power of suggestion.

"But, not tired enough," Yuuri said suddenly. He wanted a brief break from the current issue before being pulled into the centre of it. "Let's play, Conrart. Wolfram can get train his soldier while we play."

Wolfram gave Conrart a look of immense relief and silently thanked his Little Big Brother. At that exact moment, Wolfram was very thankful and blessed that even though he had effectively lost the life of his love, he still had his family by his side. _'Blood is thicker than water, huh?'_

A few hours later, Wolfram's elite guards could be seen walking towards their quarters, looking exhausted and battered but equally satisfied. Their beautiful and lovable commander was back, after all.

* * *

The Great Sage's destination loomed up front in its entire splendor. A magnificent building, large and imposing. The grey stones lining the outer walls served as a formidable barrier against any mortal attacks. Though truth be told, the only two things the Sage liked about the place were the octagonal garden with the pool in the middle and the shrine maidens. He liked the garden because that was the place that connected him with home (almost all the time) and the maidens because usually they were the objects of his fantasies. _'Not that I have a lot of those,'_ he chuckled to himself.

Reaching the entrance of the temple, he slowed down upon seeing Ulrike waiting for him. _'Cheh, that prankster must've known I'm coming. So…. he deliberately ignored my calling, huh? Just you wait Shinou. I'll get my payback.'_

"Your Highness, His Majesty is waiting for you," Ulrike wasn't sure why Murata looked so angry.

"Ahh…. He is, isn't he? That good for nothing……" Murata curse trailed off when he walked past Ulrike in a hurry. As much as he wanted to strangle Shinou, he had to settle this matter first. _'That guy should learn self-restrain. He should know when to stop joking around.'_

When he arrived at the room, Shinou was standing with his back facing Murata. The king appeared not to notice his presence, seemingly absorbed in his thoughts. Then suddenly, the blond monarch turned around with a smirk on his face.

"I sense that you're angry, my dear Sage."

"Not a great way to say hello, Shinou," Murata replied sarcastically.

Shinou chuckled softly. "Alright, then. Hello, my dear Sage."

Murata stared straight at him. "Not funny and you knew it. Will you please stop making fun of me?"

Shinou just shrugged. He could guess that Murata wanted to ask him something about the recent event. He could assume that Murata wanted to reproach him about his failure to show up when summoned. He knew there was a lot to be explained. The Sage's five years in Shin Makoku wasn't enough to fill him with everything that had happened for the last hundreds of years since his absence.

"Fine. I'll restrain myself for now. But before that, let me apologize for my failure to help when you need me to," Shinou thought rather than listen to the Sage's long speech about his role in supporting the new Maou which in other word meant supporting the Sage's by answering his call, it was better to just bow his head and apologize first.

"Huh, that's a first," Murata mumbled, a little taken aback by this new development. "But don't think that you'll get away with it."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He responded smugly._ 'Damn, he read my plan,'_ Shinou cursed silently. "I believe you have something to discuss with me, my dear Sage. What is it?"

"Oh, don't pretend you didn't know, my dear beloved Shinou. You know alright, with that stupid grin on your face," Murata couldn't believe his ears. His blood was nearing the boiling point. _'Mattaku, I should have resigned from being his babysitter a long time ago. He's worst than my 2 year old cousin.'_

Shinou expression changed dramatically. "Cyndwal, huh?"

There was an eerie silent that followed.

"I take it you know something about it," Murata tried to coax the blond in front of him into telling. He knew very well that if Shinou refused to say, then it was useless to force him to do so.

Shinou just stood there, staring into space. His expression was unreadable. Murata knew not to push him so he just made his way towards the altar and sat between 'End of the Earth' and "End of the Wind'. Patience was the best way to deal with Shinou. That was the hardest lesson he learned 4000 years ago.

"What would you do if I told you I knew about Cyndwal?"

"Then I would ask you what the hell were you thinking keeping it a secret from me? Thousands of people died, roasted. Your information could've saved them," Murata was furious. How could Shinou be so nonchalant about this?

A look of anger flashed across Shinou's face. For a moment his blue eyes turned grey. But a second later, his shoulders were slumped. His eyes were sad, full of unshed tears.

'_I've never seen him like that. Not even when he's dying from Soushu.'_

"It's true that I knew about it. I've been having nightmares about it, if you can call it a nightmare since I don't sleep. The problem is though, my dear friend, I don't know when it would happen. There were times when I thought it was just a meaningless dream. You know, like the one when I saw you naked in a pool full of women and you were having so much fun you passed out because of the heat?" Shinou smiled a little at that. That was a funny dream, watching the Sage floating with his manhood in full view of the women and how they had laughed hysterically at that.

"But you should've just told me nonetheless. At least we could post guards at the village. We could've done something to prevent this," Murata was officially on the brink of losing his head. Sometimes he just didn't understand the demon in front of him; his logic threw him off balance.

"Then, you would have added the number of the death tolls. You have no idea what you're up against. Even I, the supposedly Great One, don't know everything about 'her'."

"It's a 'her'?" Murata asked, surprised at the newly obtained information.

"Well, that was the sex of the disguise she used the last time I saw her," Shinou looked directly at the Sage.

"You've met her before?"

"Will you just stop repeating everything I've said?"

"Sorry. Then what is she actually? Lady von Kabernikoff told me that the substance we got from her trail is not from this world," Murata informed the dead king.

"Like I said before, I don't know everything about her. I know for a fact that she relies on others life force to sustain her own. She has been alive far longer than any of us. She is the remnant of the Launa people or the First. There isn't any writing material left now on this race. While the Launas were not immortal, Corintha as she called herself found a way to avoid the fate of her people."

"Launa! I've heard about them. I think I've read about them once. They were destroyed when a huge earthquake hit their region. The survivors then were swept away by the biggest tidal wave in history. How could've she survived that?" Murata was confused. The incident had created more confusion than answers.

"That's why I told you I don't know everything," Shinou replied, obviously annoyed.

"But, why there was no incident like this before? I think the burning of Cyndwal was the first."

"Well…. I guess you could say that she is seeking revenge," Shinou could've sworn he had a headache.

"Why? On whom?"

"On us, my dear Sage. On the demon tribe," the blond spirit replied.

"Care to tell me more, Shinou?" Murata was furious at Shinou for withholding information from him.

"I would love to indulge you in the recent history of Shin Makoku, but I think it's inappropriate to do so. I'm not the best person to tell you this. It'll be an insult to the family involved," Shinou rubbed his eyes, a sign that he was getting tired. _'He's just like a cute little brat when he does that.'_

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"How about we pay the family in question a visit," the fiery spirit started to walk towards the door.

'_Eh?'_ Today was definitely the most tiring day for Murata.

* * *

A heated conversation was taking place in Gwendal's office. Günther was standing, facing the window overlooking the empty square below. He was sweating amid the mild weather. Gwendal on the other hand, had taken out a bottle of vodka and poured it into two small glasses. The vodka was a present from the Shibuyas as a token of thank you for looking after their son (or rather, looking after their son's paperwork). He handed a glass to Günther.

"I know what you're thinking, Günther. I've been thinking about the same thing since we came back last night. But let's not jump into conclusion shall we? We still don't know for sure," Gwendal wanted to calm his friend desperately because he needed him clear-headed.

Günther just smiled bitterly. "I wish I had your confidence, Gwendal. But all the evidence we had gathered so far suggest otherwise. Fire wielder, Forlorne Forest, the ruins, the out-of-the-world stuff. It all makes sense. It's back."

"How?"

"I don't know. I thought we've finished the job years ago. I honestly thought we'd stopped it. But we were unprepared back then. Something must have happened."

Silence reigned. Both didn't really want to bring themselves to think about the nightmare that took place decades ago but what choice do they had? There must've been something wrong on that fateful night. A mistake that brought back the horror to life.

"I think you should tell your mother, Gwendal," Günther finally opened his mouth.

"What?! No!! Absolutely not! She'll freak out. Right now, I have enough on my plate to last me this lifetime," Gwendal practically shouted.

"But she IS your mother. How do you think she would feel if she heard of this from someone else and was unable to help?" Günther shot back.

"I-I…." Gwendal downed his vodka in one gulp. "I'll think about it," he finally relented.

Günther just nodded. "So back to the pressing matters. What should we do now? Are we to wait here? Are we to attack first?" Günther asked nonstop, bringing more headaches to the already throbbing head of Gwendal's.

"Seriously, right now, I'm not sure. Unlike the battle with Soushu, we knew nothing about it. Even the Great Sage is in a bind. How are we going to construct a plan when we don't even have the slightest idea what we're up against?" Gwendal let out everything that was bothering him.

"Tashikani," Gunter reluctantly agreed.

A sound of door being opened had them all jumped from surprise. "Maybe if we all sit and think about it together, we might find something," Shinou was standing on the Great Sage's shoulder, looking rather amused.

"Shinou Heika! Daikenja-sama!" Both man turned around to see the Great Sage in the doorway with the cute and small king perched on his shoulder like a parrot.

"Hello, Lord von Christ, Lord von Voltaire. Long time no see. Peace is a good thing, huh?" He smiled mischievously. Murata just ground his teeth, still fuming at the dead king for keeping him in the dark (and for standing on his shoulder).

Gwendal and Günther just stared at the odd-looking couple in front of them. Their heads were still swarming with a lot of unanswered questions.

"So, I reckon you were talking about Cyndwal and the possible relation to the event that happened 88 years ago, huh?" Shinou jumped from Murata's shoulder onto Gwendal's table, careful not to knock any stack of paperwork.

"Ah, I'm right then? It's back?" Günther said, eyes not exactly meeting the king.

"Ping pong."

"So when are we going to go meet the family, Shinou?" Murata asked.

"We ARE meeting them, alright," the spirit replied. He arranged a few boxes on Gwendal's table to his height and then sat on it.

Murata was beyond confused. He thought they were stopping at the Blood Pledge Castle to ask for escort. Now the prankster said they were already meeting the family? 'You've got to be kidding.'

"Meet the brother of the person in question, Gwendal von Voltaire," Shinou was presenting Gwendal like he was presenting a contestant in a game show.

"Conrart?" the name slipped from Murata's mouth.

"Treet. You are wrong, my dear Sage."

Murata glanced at the spirit. "Stop playing games with me, Shinou," he virtually yelled. Then the revelation sank in. "WOLFRAM!!"

"Ping pong."

* * *

The blond in question at the moment was lying on his bed, clutching his heart, experiencing a dull pain. He lay uncomfortably in his bed, rolling from side to side. Right now, he was contemplating whether to pay a visit to Gisela or not.

While he was deep in his thought, there was a knock on the door. He ignored it, silently cursing the person behind the door for interrupting his peace. A few seconds later, there was another knock. Wolfram was about to yell some profanities to the unknown peace disturber when a voice spoke up.

"Wolfram, are you alright?" It was Greta.

He called out. "I'm fine. Come on in, Greta," he quickly stood up. He didn't want his daughter to see him in his moment of weakness.

The door opened slightly, just enough to let in a petite figure into the room. The little princess walked towards him uncertainly. This was her first time visiting Wolfram in this room. Usually, she would come to see him at the Royal Bedchamber. But yesterday, when she went there to have a routine sleepover with her parents, she found out that Wolfram had moved out of the room.

"It's alright, Greta. Come here," Wolfram beckoned his teenage daughter to come nearer. He could sense Greta's reluctance. The princess nodded and quickened her pace. She hugged Wolfram tightly when she reached him. Her right hand was holding a present for Wolfram.

"Here, Wolfram. I made this for you just like you'd asked," she held out her hand. In it there was a flower crown.

"T-thank you, Greta. I really appreciate it," he was grateful that the room was dark and Greta couldn't see the tears that welled in his eyes. His voice was thick with emotion. No matter what happened between him and Yuuri, Greta was still his daughter.

"Wolfram?" Greta's voice was wet.

"Hmm?" 'What's wrong with her?' Wolfram was worried. He reached out for Greta's hands and held it tightly.

"You do know that whatever happens, I'll always love you, right? That you are still my father, right?"

Wolfram grew quiet. Greta squirmed a little bit. She thought that Wolfram's silence was a sign of his refusal to love her should he and Yuuri really parted way.

"Wolfram? You do love me right? Or is it that you only love me because I'm Yuuri's daughter?"

Wolfram was surprised. "Don't be silly, silly. Of course I love you. What's that wimp has to do with this?" He admonished her kindly. He felt tears trailing down his cheek. "I will always love you, Greta. Always," he grew quiet again. Greta was a part of his family now. Even if Yuuri was no longer in it. He reached out his hand and patted her head. "Thank you for loving me too."

* * *

A/N: Ping pong is the sound effect usually used to indicate something is right. My Japanese lecturer sometime used this during quizzes. Not that it was funny; it was rather annoying actually considering the fact that we are not little kids anymore. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to **pikeebo** for the sole review. Would appreciate it if you guys drop me a review about what you think. Next chapter: 88 Years Ago.


	5. 88 Years Ago

Hah, finally, an update. I couldn't update earlier because my notebook was swarming with viruses, I had to have it reformatted. But finally I got it back today. Thank you, God. Not Beta-ed so sorry for any grammar or vocabulary mistake. Hope you enjoy this.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Kyou Kara Maou, unfortunately.

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Chapter 4 – Eighty-eight Years Ago

Wolfram quietly ran along the corridor towards his brother's office. Not ten minutes ago, he received his brother's summon to go to his room from one of his subordinates. Without knocking as the door was already opened, he rushed into Gwendal's room.

"What is this all about, Brother?" Wolfram asked as he made his way to the table and sat on one of the chairs. Beside him, Günter was squirming in his seat, looking ill at ease. Murata was leaning against the wall with the dead king on his shoulder. Yuuri and Conrart hadn't arrived yet.

"You'll know when everyone's here. I don't want to repeat what I'm going to say," Gwendal didn't even look up. His hand was busy signing the documents that had managed to find their way onto his table.

Wolfram pouted but knew not to throw a tantrum. The veins on Gwendal's forehead always bore bad news. He just had to wait patiently. Shifting his chair, he could feel his heart acting again. Last night, he was kept awake half of the night because the dull pain he initially experienced had turned into something painful. He felt like his heart was stabbed by thousands of knives. Only after the first sunlight illuminated the sky that his pain disappeared altogether. Now, however the pain started again_. 'I'm not gonna have a good night sleep again, huh?'_

While Wolfram was deep in his thought, Conrart knocked on the slightly opened door and stepped in, followed by Yuuri. Without waiting for an invitation, the kind-faced man sat on the other side of Wolfram while Yuuri took the place at the head of the table. "Sorry, we're late." Yuuri apologized.

"It's alright."

"So can we start now, Brother?" Wolfram tried to hide his pain by acting annoyed.

Shinou, who was staring at Wolfram for some time now, furrowed his brows. He knew the blond noble was trying to hide something. He was his descendant, after all. Shinou wondered whether that had something to do with what was happening.

"Not yet. There is still one more."

"Who?"

As if on cue, the door opened with such a loud noise, Wolfram practically jumped from surprise. Annissina was breathing hard, her hands on her knees, trying to catch some air.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Not at all. Have a seat, Lady von Kabernikoff. We shall start now," Shinou motioned to an empty sit next to Conrart.

Murata walked towards the door and locked it. Then a protection charm was cast about the room. Wolfram knitted his brows. He was curious as to why this level of protection was taken when they were only having a meeting concerning the latest event.

Gwendal looked at Günter. Günter looked at Shinou. Shinou just smirked. He knew the rest were actually wondering who should start. They should count him out though. This time, he preferred to stand on the sideline and watched everything unveiled and enjoyed the changes on their faces. _'I will definitely going to have some fun.'_

"Lord von Voltaire, if you please. I think you're the most suitable person to do this." Gwendal threw a dirty look at Shinou. _'Sure, when things are as difficult as this, leave it to me to handle it.'_

He cleared his throat and cast a weary look to everyone. His look however, lingered a little bit longer on Wolfram. There were questions written across that exquisite face of his.

"What I'm going to tell you happened a long time ago and we-," Gwendal gestured towards Shinou and Günter, "-believed that the event has a connection with what was happening to Cyndwal."

The rest of them sat straight, waiting for the bomb to be dropped.

"It all started 88 years ago in the von Bielefeld's territory……"

****

"Congratulations on the birth of your son, Heika," guests came to the von Bielefeld's mansion to share the happy news with the Maou. Lady Cecilie just smiled sadly. She held her sleeping son tightly to her bosom. The event that was supposed to be a welcoming party for her newborn child now doubled up as a memorial for her husband.

The atmosphere was somber. People came to wish the newborn a long and happy life and then pay their last respect to the infant's father. How ironic when the son's life started when the father's life stopped. It was like the senior von Bielefeld gave up his life so that his son could have his.

"I think you better take him to his room," Cecilie handed her sleeping son to his wet nurse. "I'll come see him later."

The woman just nodded and took the beautiful baby from his mother's hands. Wolfram barely stirred. He had been fed before he was presented to the public. She suspected not even a bomb could wake him up now. The wet nurse quickly bowed and made her way to the nursery.

After putting the blond baby into the crib, she sat on the rocking chair next to it, softly humming some lullaby. Minute by minute, she could feel her eyes getting heavier. Try as she might, she could no longer keep her eyes open and finally succumbed to the drowsiness. In fact, all over the mansion, the occupants and guests alike had mysteriously fallen asleep.

Not far from the banquet hall, two black-cloaked figures were standing in the shadow, watching the reality unfolding in front of their eyes. After making sure that no one was still standing, the two black figures started to make their ways up the stair, towards the rooms.

"I have to say, Ealya, that was ingenious. How did you manage to come up with that?" Gerhart looked at his partner, who was searching for the right door to the nursery. All she managed to find was a room with a brunette boy, who was sleeping holding a wooden sword. Her assigned partner, meanwhile, was making her head split with all the stupid questions.

"I say, Gerhart, would you mind helping me find the blond baby? We don't have forever, you know. The sleeping draught will lose its effect as soon as the moon rises," Ealya said through gritted teeth.

Gerhart got the meaning and quickly scrambled along the corridor, opening the doors to the unknown rooms beyond. He had to admire his partner. After getting the first summon from Corintha, Ealya had vigorously been searching for the suitable candidate. She was the true mastermind behind all these. He, on the other hand, was only good at doing the hard work. He never had the brain capacity to do all the thinking. Maybe that was the reason why Corintha chose the two of them to be partners. The perfect brain and brawn.

"Gert, over here," suddenly he heard Ealya's voice calling to him. She had already gone into a room. Not long after, she was out of the room carrying a bundle. _'She found him.'_

"Here, hold him. I'm gonna activate the travelling spell."

A blue spark started to engulf the nursery's door frame as soon as Ealya began chanting the spell. A moment later, there was a portal opening to the unknown world beyond. Taking the baby back, Ealya walked forward past the threshold, followed closely by Gerhart. As soon as the last person passed the portal, the blue spark dissolved and the entrance was gone.

A few minutes or maybe a few hours passed; the first person to gain consciousness was the brunette boy. Little Conrart clutched the wooden sword and headed to his little brother's room. He had promised his mother that he would always protect Wolfram and he intended to keep that one promise. Sword drawn just as his father had taught him, he almost ran all the way to his baby brother's room. But what he saw puzzled him.

"Phyllis, where is Wolfram?"

The wet nurse, Phyllis, who was still drowsy after being awakened by the gentle hand of a 30 year-old boy, blinked rapidly at the prince. "What did you just said, dear?"

"I said," Conrart patiently repeating his question, "where is Wolfram?" I thought Mother gave him to you!" The little boy searched the laced crib one more time. Maybe his little brother was under the pillows or the blanket, who knows?

The woman, upon hearing Conrart's innocent question, shot up immediately and rushed towards the crib. "Oh no! He's not here." She frantically searched the crib, throwing out the contents of it.

"Wolfram!" she searched under the chair, behind the curtains, she searched every nook and cranny. Deep down inside she knew that wasn't possible; Wolfram couldn't possible get out of the crib himself. He was only two month old.

"WOLFRAM!!" The piercing scream made the barely conscious people came rushing to the room. Conrart upon seeing his mother quickly threw himself at her. Phyllis' scream scared the daylight out of him.

"Phyllis! What's wrong?" Where's Wolfram?" Cecilie practically shook the poor woman, who by now was crying hysterically, when she saw the state of the room. The wet nurse, to Cecilie's dismay, just continued crying. Finally, she managed to utter three cursed words. "I don't know."

And this time, it was Cecilie's turned to scream.

****

Young Gwendal was waiting anxiously for the reply from Shinou's Temple. The poor pigeon had been flying back and forth for the past hour, carrying the exchange between the Maou and Ulrike. Lady Cecilie was hoping that maybe Shinou's spirit could locate her son's whereabouts. Gwendal, for once, was relieved that his wretched uncle wasn't here. If the older man was here, von Stoffel would just told his mother to not go looking for her son and focus on more pressing matter, like the impending war. He was against his mother's marriage to the late von Bielefeld, afterall.

Soft pecks on the window brought Gwendal back to reality. The exhausted pigeon was resting on the window sill. A parchment was tied to its right leg. Gwendal hastily removed the paper and almost ripped it out in his eagerness to rescue his cute little brother. There were only three words written on the paper:

Forlorne Forest, ruins

Fifteen minutes later, an army fit to attack a country was assembled consisting soldiers from the von Bielefeld and the Maou's most trusted guards. Gwendal had a hard time convincing his eager brother that he was better off protecting the castle than following them because maybe Wolfram might still be inside the castle (a lie of course; he couldn't afford to lose another brother). The tear-eyed Conrart, who didn't believe a word his brother had said, kicked and screamed at the top of his lungs, wanting to follow the rest of them to save Wolfram. He was then dragged into the house by an irate Waltorana, who managed to keep him at bay by staring at him with a deadly gaze.

After two hours of riding through the thick forest, they arrived at a clearing before the ruins. Things looked calm, not even the wind was moving. The full moon was high on the sky, casting silver glow to the surrounding.

'_Too calm.'_ Gwendal was uneasy. Calmness like this could mean that whoever took Wolfram knew that they were coming. _'Or maybe this area is just quiet,'_ Gwendal told himself. He approached the entrance warily, half expecting arrows to come shooting out from the darkness. _'Nothing happened,'_ he thought, sighing. He wanted to believe that it would be safe to proceed but there was that nagging feeling inside.

It turned out that he was right. Just as the last person crossed the threshold, all around them was a bright yellowish hue. It looked as if they were trapped inside the yellow barrier. One of the soldiers tried to get out but as soon as he touched it, he was instantly incinerated.

'_So there's no way to go except forward, huh?'_ Gwendal pulled his horse's rein.

Up front was this darkness that seemed intimidating. He was beginning to doubt Ulrike's words. How could anyone in his right mind live in a place like this? From the way it looked from the outside, nobody had lived in this wretched place for thousands of years.

"Gwendal, I think we should proceed, keep moving on. Staying on one spot only makes the soldiers doubt your decision and that in turn scares them," Günter nudged Gwendal out of his thought.

The young von Voltaire blinked a few times before finally agreeing to Günter's suggestion. The two young soldiers then barked orders to the troops. Some of them were told to stay at the entrance in case the enemy brought in help from the outside. The rest of them were divided into two groups each making up the right and left flanks.

"I don't feel good about his, Günter," Gwendal whispered softly to his friend. He really wanted to find his baby brother but was scared to imagine what state he might be in.

"I know. Think positive, though, or the men will start to freak out," that was the best advice Günter could give under the circumstances. He was starting to freak out himself.

They were approaching the darkness much faster thank both of them would have liked. They still hadn't figured out any suitable plan yet. They didn't even know what they were up against. Gwendal felt naked. But he knew, no matter what happened, whether Wolfram was still alive or not, the only way out was to incapacitate the enemy.

Günter was the first one to saw the light at the altar. He held up his hand as a sign for them to cease movement.

"Gwen, I think we should investigate that first before we go charging."

"What different does that make? They've already known we're here," Gwendal replied, obviously irritated.

Günter shot him a dark look. He then turned to the men behind. "You, you, you and you," he pointed to four of the men in the first row, "follow me. The rest stay here. Wait until the next order or, Shinou forbids, until we're attacked to launch the assault. Got it?" _'I pray we don't have to attack at all.'_

The six of them approached the altar stealthily. At this point, they still couldn't clearly see what was happening beyond. But there was definitely a smell of something burning. Something with a pungent smell.

"Oh God, what is this smell?" Gwendal covered his nose with the collar of his uniform.

"Why ask me?" The smell made Gunther teary-eyed.

The smell turned out to be the burning of flesh; whether it was human or no one knew for certain. Despite the smell, they approached the altar for a better view. But then, the smoke suddenly cleared and what they saw made Gwendal clutched his sword tighter.

There in the middle of the altar, little Wolfram was laid on top of some yellow cloth. The baby seemed to be awake but surprisingly he didn't make any movement. He just stared up at the faces of the three people who encircled him. Two of them were wearing black cloaks while the other one appeared to be naked. There were little cuts on Wolfram's forearms.

"Bitch!!" Gwendal seethed.

"Bring the chalice over here," Corintha ordered Gerhart to bring the vessel that contained Wolfram's blood. She dipped her right index finger into the cup and used Wolfram's blood to make some sort of symbols on her face, on her ample chest and on her arms. She then held her arms up an uttered something none of the listening audience could understand.

"Hand me the knife," Gerhart quickly handed the intricately decorated cold steel to her. As he did this, he tried as hard and as subtle as he could not to touch her.

"Gwen, what is she trying to do?" Günter whispered to the stunned young man beside him.

"I don't know," Gwendal replied after a while. "But I'm not staying here to find out! That's my brother over there," he started to move towards the altar but Corintha had already held the knife on top of Wolfram.

'No!!!' Gwendal screamed in his head. His eyes bulged but mysteriously no sound escaped his mouth. Günter had already unsheathed his sword and move forward but then he suddenly stopped.

"Why are you stopping, my Lord?" one of the men, who bumped into him, quickly asked.

Günter, with clear disgust on his face, just pointed out to the altar. "Oh…that's sick," the soldier swiftly looked the other way.

Gwendal followed Günter's direction. He too, had to agree with the soldier. Instead of plunging the knife into Wolfram (for which he was eternally grateful), Corintha took the knife and retraced the symbols she had drawn on her body. She was carving herself! Those who were watching could only grimace when she traced the symbols across her closed eyelids.

"Aww, man. That's just plain masochism!" Gwendal exclaimed, actually flinching at the obviously painful ritual.

But there was nothing masochistic about what Corintha was doing to herself nor was it painful. She was actually opening up herself so that she could absorb Wolfram's blood that was painted on her body. After the blood was mixed and actually pumping inside her body, she took the chalice and dumped all the blood onto herself and started chanting again.

There was a red vapor coming out of Wolfram's mouth. The infant was now hiccupping for his breath. Corintha opened her mouth which had lost its lusciousness and now was just a big black hole. The vapor was the manifestation of Wolfram's soul and she was sucking it!

"Oh no, you don't!!" Gwendal screamed before lunging at Corintha.

Corintha was stunned. She thought she had already set up a protection barrier around the temple. "Oh, so you were lucky, huh? You managed to slip in when the charm was renewing itself, eh? But, tell you what, dear foolish mortal, your luck is about to end!" At this, she snapped her fingers and all over the place, smelly rotten corpses were being raised.

"Oh, Holy….," Günter was speechless.

"The four of you, get out of here quickly and tell the others to attack," Gwendal barked. "Günter, follow me. We have a score to settle."

While the rest of them were fighting the army of the dead, Gwendal, with his sword drawn, approached the stone slab. He trained his eyes on Corintha and her two minions, never letting them out of his sight. Outside, screams could be heard; whether they were from the soldiers or the dead, he dared not to think. _'Please, Shinou, if you save us this time, I'll dedicate my life for the betterment of Shin Makoku,'_ he silently prayed.

"Not so fast, darlings!" quipped Corintha when she saw Gwendal and Günter inching closer to Wolfram. "You're not taking my ticket to power."

"My brother is not your plaything!"

"Sure he is. His blood already flows in mine. If I command him to stop breathing, he will. But then, if I do that, I'll lose my toy. Hmmm….what should I do?" she mocked. At the same time, Wolfram let out a wail as if sensing his life was in danger. The vapor that was his soul started to wobble.

"What?!" Corintha was caught off guard. "He's not supposed to do that!" Corintha turned toward Ealya and Gerhart. "Quick! Stop him before his soul goes back in!" she screamed.

"Oh, hell no," Günter quickly flung himself forward. In the excitement that followed, Günter managed to disable Ealya, who slumped unconsciously on the slab before slipping to the ground. Gerhart however, proved to be a formidable foe. He was quite adept at swordsmanship; he could parry every blow from Günter.

"Gwendal, don't worry about me. Go save Wolfram!" he screamed when he saw that Gwendal was making his way towards him.

Gwendal upon hearing Günter's screamed, changed his course and raced towards Corintha instead, whose face now was a little bit on the sickly side. He thrust his sword to stab her but she turned her right hand's fingernails into five extremely sharp talons, and stopped his blow. Wolfram, surprised at the sudden noise, cried again.

"No!!" Corintha let out a high-pitched scream. "Stop! The spell is not finished yet!" The red mist started to flow back into Wolfram. For some reason, Wolfram seemed to understand that if he stopped crying now, his life would be over. The crying kept on getting louder and louder, driving his life force back in.

Gwendal took the opportunity to aim for Corintha's neck. He knew now that what he was dealing with was neither Mazoku nor human. She was on a completely different plane of existence from them. The sword connected with her neck but it was like cutting through steel. He failed to stop her; he only made her madder.

"How dare you!" she howled and with it came a gusty wind that knocked Gwendal backward. His head hit a wall behind him. Fighting with dizziness, he clumsily picked himself up but Corintha was already in front of him. "I cannot die, you fool. I'm immortal! Get that? Immortal!" She tried to strangle Gwendal with her left hand.

Gwendal was now choking for air. He tried to stab her but nothing could penetrate her skin. _'Shinou, please!' _He sobbed silently. Wolfram had gone quiet. What had happened to him, Gwendal didn't know. But he desperately wanted to save his baby brother. He knew his mother would be devastated if he failed. His mother had been through a lot lately. He wasn't sure how she would react upon receiving two more bodies to bury. And Gwendal was pretty sure Conrart, his cute little brother would hate him forever for that.

Wolfram suddenly cried again, this time louder and shriller. That seemed to throw Corintha off-balance again. Now, Gwendal understood. With each of Wolfram's cry, he was gaining back his soul and that in turn weakened the monster heavily. '_Come on, Wolf. Scream again please,'_ he pleaded. But it seemed that Wolfram had finished his complaint for the time being. Gwendal had no choice but to incite him.

'_Sorry, Wolf, but I have to do this. For us!'_ "WOLFRAM!!" he screamed at the top his lungs. His voice startled the poor infant that he screamed bloody murder.

"Stop! Stop, you brat!" Corintha was struggling for composure. Gwendal could feel the blood inside her boiling. "Stop!!!!!"

Gwendal took that moment to wield the earth around him. He created a number of wedges from the rock around him and sent them flying towards Corintha, impaling her onto a rock wall he had erected earlier. He then took his sword, prayed for a brief moment to Shinou and then plunged the sword between Corintha's eyes. For some reason or another, the blade made a clean cut through and the monster ceased to move.

Günter, who had just managed to subdue the barbaric Gerhart, watched silently as the sword made a quick journey to Corintha's brain, if there is any. Simultaneously, the dead soldiers raised by her dropped dead again as she stopped moving but not before inflicting a great damage on their opponents.

Gwendal stared into Corintha's opened eyes for a moment. He decided not to retrieve his sword, actually feeling safer if the thing in front of him remained impaled. He then moved towards his whimpering baby brother.

Wolfram quickly stopped crying when he saw him. _'Finally, a familiar smell,'_ he thought.

"Let's go home, Wolf."

On the horizon, the first sunlight illuminated the dark sky.

* * *

A/N: Since Corintha isn't exactly a homosapien or a Mazoku, she doesn't have to worry about any reaction due to incorrect blood transfusion. There's no A, B, AB, or O or positive or negative rhesus for her race. Reviews are very much appreciated. Next chapter: Wolfram's Guilt. Hope you will continue supporting my story.


	6. Wolfram's Guilt

Update kimashitayo….. Read and enjoy. Not Beta-ed. (Where and how can I find one? I'm kind of new with all this.). Sorry for the intentional OOC. Muahahaha ~~~

Usual disclaimers apply…. I don't own bla, bla, bla….

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Chapter 5: Wolfram's Guilt

Silence followed Gwendal's explanation. Nobody dared to move a muscle. This was all too much to take in one sit. Gwendal sat straight staring at his little brother. At the moment, Wolfram's face was void of any emotion and that scared him. To Wolfram's left, Günter was massaging his temple and once in a while glanced at the prince beside him. He was half expecting rains of fireballs coming from the said golden-haired boy.

The first to speak was Murata. "So, she wants to seek revenge on us because we foiled her attempt at replenishing her life source, huh?" That was a rhetorical question of course. "And she won't stop until she gets what she wants?"

"I don't remember any of that," Conrart rubbed his eyes. The lecture on 'The Brief History of the ex-Maou's Family' was tiring to him. He had never thought that his older brother had encountered something as awful as that and at a young age (for a Mazoku) to boot.

"How did you manage to pierce her body anyhow, Gwendal? I thought her skin was as hard as steel?" Annissina asked her childhood friend after a lengthy silence swept the room.

"I don't know. My guess is that she was already weak from Wolfram's crying."

Shinou jumped from Murata's shoulder to the table. "Actually, that was me." He had initially thought that this would be funny to watch from the sideline but it wasn't. It sucked. "I infused the rock and the sword with a little bit of my majutsu. And like Gwendal had kindly pointed out, she was already weak at that time." Shinou stopped directly in front of Wolfram but the emerald-eyed teen was still not moving. He was staring into space, eyes unseeing.

"Did you apprehend the humans who aided her?" That was a valid question that came from Yuuri. Once in a while Yuuri could be quite insightful. The seemingly innocent question made Gwendal and Günter looked at each other as if in shame.

"No," came the simple reply.

There were soft murmurs all around the room. "Why didn't you?" one of them asked, Gwendal wasn't sure who. He was deep in his own thought.

The truth was, after looking at the damages on the soldiers and ensuring that Wolfram was safe, they did double back to the altar to seize the culprit and bring them to justice. But as soon as they reached the place, the guards that were posted there were all unconscious and the humans were nowhere to be found.

"But as for the _thing_, she was still impaled and when we tried to move her, she turned into dust. We thought she was dead at that time. Really dead. We did a hunt for the others and it went for five years. Eventually nothing turned up and we considered it a failure and decided to stop the hunt and drop the case," Gwendal explained.

A small voice they had almost forgotten spoke. "And none of you had the decency to tell me all of these before?"

All eyes were on Wolfram. The quietness of his voice terrified them. It was like the calm before the storm. The straw-haired prince was obviously struggling to keep his anger in control. His knuckles were already white from clutching at his knees a little too tightly. His face was red. His breath came out ragged.

"You, Günter, Mother, even Ojiue?" he asked again, this time with wet tears on his porcelain cheeks.

"Wolfram….," Conrart looked at the prince sadly, didn't know how exactly to calm his brother. Wolfram's temper could spell disaster to all of them.

Gwendal hung his head in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Wolfram. But we didn't want to worry you because we truly thought that it was all over. Sometimes not knowing is better," Gwendal answered carefully. He didn't want to upset Wolfram any further. Being a fire wielder, his emotions were intense and extreme. Nobody would think to blame him if he started throwing tantrums now but one wrong move and they would all be buried under the rubble and ash of Blood Pledge Castle.

Wolfram couldn't believe his ears. "Worry me?" He laughed hysterically. "How do you think I feel now, knowing that the 2000 people who were roasted that day could've been alive and kicking if it wasn't for me?" He was now standing.

"Wolf, come on now. You're being overdramatic," Yuuri interrupted earning him disgusted looks from everyone else.

"Overdramatic? You're calling me overdramatic? I recalled an absolutely overwrought Yuuri when he thought he had drowned the Big Cimarron's army. So, do not call me overdramatic. You don't have the right," he yelled. Wolfram didn't care anymore about the promise he made to Yuuri that day, which felt like a thousand years ago.

"Wolfram…" Gwendal stood up and walked towards his brother. He really needed to calm Wolfram before he went overboard and started raining them with fireballs.

Wolfram seethed. "Don't 'Wolfram' me. That's easy for you to say when you don't have the blood of all those innocent people on your hands."

"Wolfram! Stop! It wasn't your fault. None of these were," Murata tried to calm the raging prince in front of him. He rarely called Wolfram by his given name but now it couldn't be more appropriate. To Yuuri, he said, "Shibuya, I need you to zip your mouth. Don't interrupt unless you can improve the situation." Both Wolfram and Yuuri looked at the Sage like they would swallow him alive.

"You don't have the right to speak to me like that, Murata," Yuuri said lividly.

"Now is not the time to argue whether I have the right or not, which I have to say I do because I'm the Great Sage. Now, shush Yuuri."

Seeing how the situation almost got out of hand, Conrart had to intervene, "Calm down, Heika. I'm sure Geika doesn't mean that. It's just that sometimes you say things without thinking." Yuuri looked away in embarrassment. Conrart then turned his attention to Wolfram. "The Great Sage is right Wolfram. You can't blame yourself. Everything that had happened was far from being your fault," He put his hand on Wolfram's shoulder. Conrart could feel his brother stiffened under his touch but was grateful that he didn't make any sudden attempt to throw his hand off.

"But, Conrart…..." Wolfram's eyes were full of tears.

"It's alright. Everything happens for a reason," he said soothingly. Wolfram just nodded weakly, letting the feel of his brother's hand on his shoulder calmed him.

"Now that's settled, I believe we can continue our discussion," Murata walked towards the window and looked out. "Right now, she is walking among us. From the description you just said Gwendal, there's no way we could identify her if she's among human. So how could we stop her if we don't even know what she looks like?" Shinou inquired to no one in particular. "She didn't have that gooey stuff leaking out of her years ago, did she?"

Gwendal and Günter looked at each other as if having a private mental conversation. After a while they shook their heads. "Not that I can remember," Gwendal said quietly.

"Hmm, I wonder why." Murata rubbed his chin innocently.

"Right now is not the time to wonder, Geika. As you said before, she's among us. She might kill again. We have to find her as soon as possible," Wolfram, having recovered from the previous mental breakdown, jumped out of his chair in determination. He figured that if he could manage to catch or kill the thing (an even better choice for him), he could at least redeem himself. No matter what the rest thought or felt about the whole situation, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was at least partially responsible.

Shinou, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for something as important as this, finally spoke, "If things were that easy, don't you think we would've done it a long time ago rather than sitting here in this room reminiscing old times? Don't be hasty, Lord von Bielefeld," his voice was authoritative and that shut Wolfram up.

Yuuri, who was still sulking from Murata's reprimand, felt like he was being treated like an ill-mannered child rather than a king. He stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going, Heika?" Günter was the first to notice.

Yuuri, without even turning back, answered before closing the door, "To the library to find something useful about that thing….and to sulk."

Silent.

"He sure is naïve, isn't he?" Shinou looked at his most trusted friend, barely concealing his grin.

"Yeah, I wouldn't expect less from a king that was chosen by the Great Shinou," Murata replied, emphasizing on the two last words.

****

When Murata found him in the library, Yuuri was buried behind stacks of old books, the titles ranging from 'Knowing Shin Makoku' to 'Shin Makoku before Time'. Yuuri was dead serious when he said he wanted to find something about their deadly adversary. Initially, the sage had come there to tease the naïveté of the Maou, but when he saw how determined Yuuri was, he decided it would be too plain cruel even by his standard.

"I see you're still here," Murata pulled a chair opposite of the king and sat down without waiting to be invited. When it came to Yuuri, Murata usually didn't exercise self-restraint that much.

Yuuri looked up from the ridiculously thick book he was reading. This one was titled 'Encyclopedia: Shin Makoku'. The young king's eyes were red whether it was from reading too much or from the dust that had managed to accumulate on the old books, Murata couldn't tell.

"Ah, it's you," Yuuri stopped reading and rubbed his eyes. He was obviously tired. "What are you doing here?"

"Searching for you actually. You missed lunch and dinner, did you know that?" Murata casually flipped the book Yuuri had been reading. He wasn't particularly interested in it. He was technically the 'Living Encyclopedia of Shin Makoku'. _'Who needs this stinking book?'_

"Really? No wonder my stomach is grumbling so much. What time is it now?" He closed the book and leaned onto the chair.

"The last time I checked, it was quarter past ten. Seriously, Shibuya, had you been reading all these while?"

"Uh-huh," Yuuri answered wearily. His shoulders ached and his eyes hurt.

"Shibuya, honestly, do you know that there's nothing written about her, right?" Murata asked quietly, looking deep into Yuuri's eyes. Yuuri just nodded.

"Then why did you submit yourself to all this? Greta was worried about the both of you," Murata explained, and added hastily when he saw Yuuri's confused look. "Lord von Bielefeld wasn't at lunch and dinner either. The both of you missed out on Effe's superb desserts, by the way."

"Why wasn't he?" Yuuri frowned worriedly. It wasn't unusual for Wolfram to skip a meal but two meals? That was unheard of. As a fire wielder, Wolfram constantly needed to have his energy replenished. The noble usually was careful not to miss his meal. If he was starving or tired from lack of food, he wouldn't be able to wield fire properly. Food to a fire wielder was like oil to the fire.

Murata crossed his eyes. "Heck if I know the inner working of your ex's mind."

Yuuri head snapped up at the word _'ex'_. "You know? How? Did everyone else know?"

"The answer to your first inquiry is yes, I know. To your second, because Wolfram's had sent a formal letter dissolving your engagement and to your third, yeah, pretty much everybody knows."

Yuuri couldn't believe his ears. He was numbed. 'He really did that? Wolfram had finally brought down the knife to sever the relationship? Wolfram had finally lost his patience?'

Murata looked carefully at the confused king. For all he could remember, the only thing he ever heard coming out of the young king's mouth was how he wanted so much for the engagement to end. But now when it had ended the way he wanted to, he acted strange. "You're free of him. I thought you would be happy?"

Yuuri looked sadly at his friend. "I'm not sure of my feeling for him lately. I'm confused. I thought that the idea of being with him disgusts me, but….." Yuuri couldn't find the words to describe his feeling.

"You're fallen for him, haven't you?" Murata asked kindly.

"I don't know," Yuuri answered softly, honestly.

Murata just looked at the man before him. Yuuri and him were both raised on Earth so he somewhat understood the tough decision that Yuuri was facing. Murata though found it wasn't as hard or as taboo as Yuuri thought because he still retained the Original Sages' memory. On the contrary, Yuuri, even though he was carrying the soul of Susanna Julia von Wincott, didn't carry any of her memory at all.

"Is that why you've been searching for any information about Corintha?" Murata had finally understood his friend's obsession on finding everything he could about her.

"Corintha?"

"Shinou told me she called herself that. Easier to refer if we just give that bloody thing a name, don't you think? Murata smiled mischievously.

Yuuri just smile thinly before resuming his worried face. "I'm worried about Wolfram," Yuuri admitted after a considerable length of silence. "He seemed ……..off lately."

A small voice next to Murata's ear spoke next. "Like he's been hiding something from us," Shinou suddenly appeared on the Sage's shoulder.

Murata jumped when he heard the unmistakable voice. "Shinou, geez. Didn't I tell you not to appear and disappear like that? I swear, one day, you're going to give me a heart attack," Murata hissed, massaging his chest like and old man trying to find his breath.

"Don't overreact, my dear Sage. You're still young," Shinou snickered. "Now Yuuri, what do you think of the current Lord von Bielefeld?" he turned his attention to the surprised Maou in front of him.

Yuuri, who was still surprised at the sudden appearance of the Great One, could only gape at him. "W-what?"

"You're sure are slow, huh, Yuuri?" Yuuri recoiled at the obvious insult. "What do you think of Wolfram?" Shinou enunciate the words slowly as if talking to a retard.

"Oh…… I think he's been acting strange lately. Like he's in pain or something." Yuuri answered hotly. He was fuming at Shinou for treating him like a child.

"Exactly. I think he IS in pain. I saw him clutching his chest several times during the magnificent storytelling when he thought no one was watching. And there are some dark circles under his eyes." Shinou rubbed his chin in an exaggerated manner.

"A sign of insomnia," Murata added helpfully.

Shinou turned to Murata. "In-some-what?"

"Insomnia. A condition where you couldn't sleep. Could it be because of the pain?" Murata mused.

"Maybe. And I think all of these have something to do with that wretched woman….. or whatever she is!"

"But how? When did she inflict Wolfram with it?" Yuuri demanded. Honestly, his heart couldn't take any of these anymore._ 'Why Wolfram?'_

"I think you're asking the wrong questions, Shibuya. You're forgetting the most profound question of all – Why!"

"My Sage is right, Yuuri. It didn't matter how or when. That won't help us now. The most important thins is why did she do that? What is it for her? Is she aware she's doing this to Wolfram? How much of Wolfram's soul did she manage to obtain?"

"Precisely, Shinou. And if she is doing this consciously, can she take control of Wolfram like you did to him?" Murata asked the dead king, referring to the numerous incidents where Shinou possessed the blond's body. "This is baffling and disturbing."

"Yeah, you're right, Murata. And at the middle of it is Wolfram," Yuuri pointed out sadly.

****

"Where've you been? Everyone was worried about you," Gwendal's voice boomed the moment his youngest brother entered the room. He was about to call out for a search party when all effort at finding the proud Mazoku within the castle ground proved to be futile. Conrart, who was standing beside Gwendal, looked up from whatever document the both of them were discussing.

"Why? It's not like I've never skipped a meal. As I can recall, I just did that a week ago and nobody bothered to look for me. So why the sudden interest?" Wolfram scorned. He swiftly pulled out a chair and sat himself down. "Ahh…. I see now. You're afraid that I might take off and go gallivanting across the country chasing after that thing. Am I right?"

Gwendal's face turned red at that. His hand fell to his side and automatically did the phantom knitting. Conrart just sighed seeing the scene in front of him. It was almost midnight and everyone was tired and cranky. It was a long day today.

"Wolfram, this is not a matter you can take lightly. Please do not make any more joke about it," the brunette said softly, trying to play the peacemaker.

"Yeah, whatever," Wolfram dismissed his older brother with a flick of a hand. Truthfully, he knew that might look rude but right now, his uncomfortable state made him moody. "What is it? I passed Abe on my way to the kitchen when he said that you wanted to see me," Wolfram said.

Conrart threw Gwendal a weird look. Gwendal ignored him and cleared his throat before bombarding the pretty boy in front of him with a series of questions.

"What is this?" He got up and slapped down a piece of paper in front of the shocked Wolfram. "What were you thinking? At time like this nonetheless? Have you no conscience at all?"

'_OK, that's a bit harsh, Gwen,'_ Conrart swallowed hard when he saw the face of his baby brother.

Wolfram looked coldly at his eldest brother. "Which one of the 'fairly accused' questions would you prefer me to answer first, Brother?" he asked with much sarcasm he could manage to summon.

Conrart, upon seeing how the scene might get out of hand, quickly said, "Calm down, the both of you." He looked at Wolfram's red face. "Wolf, Gwendal didn't mean any harm. What he meant was would you care to share with us the reason you sent this annulment letter? Right, Gwen?" He turned his face to look at Gwendal with ill-concealed annoyance.

The grey haired man closed his eyes and massaged his temple for a while before answering. "Yeah, that's what I meant," he reluctantly agreed.

Wolfram sent both of his brothers impatience looks. "What would you have me do then?" he snapped in angry frustration. "I heard everything. I heard he said his engagement to me was a mistake and he intended to end it anyway. I heard he said there's no way he would marry me. I heard everything, Brother. So what would you have me do? You want me to let this go on for how long? Don't you think I have a heart too?" he screamed angrily. _'I do, darn it.'_

"Wolfram……" Conrart voice died out. He sympathized with him but at the moment he didn't know what to do or say to make Wolfram felt better.

"My heart's hurting. There's nothing I'd done that felt right. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. But please believe me when I said everything I did was for him. I delivered him the thing he always wants, his freedom from me. So tell me, dear Brother, what did I do wrong?" Wolfram voice had lost its anger, it came out ragged.

"But, Wolfram….." Gwendal started to say his mind but Wolfram cut him off.

"It's alright really, Gwen. I'm tired of living in this illusion that he would some day love me, come to care for me as much as I do him. I want to stop lying to myself. But rest assure, nothing would come between me and my duty to protect him. Now however, our top priority is to hunt that thing," Wolfram finished.

"I understand, Wolf, but have you ever………." Gwendal's voice trailed off when Wolfram suddenly felt a sudden bout of pain in his heart. This time, it was worse than before. He was glad that he was sitting at the moment because if he wasn't, he bet he would already lying face down on the floor. His left hand quietly clutching his chest tightly, again wishing for the pain to subside. "…………Maou's feeling?" he managed to catch the end of Gwendal's sermon.

"Excuse me, but I have something to attend to," Wolfram pushed back the chair, almost falling down in his hastiness to fled the room. There's no way he would let the world know how much pain he was in. but he only managed to get as far as the door before another series of pain attacked him.

'Oh crap!' Wolfram's legs buckled under his own weight. He fell sideward, knocking down a vase on his way down.

"WOLFRAM!" seeing Wolfram suddenly falling scared both Conrart and Gwendal, making them rushed to his side.

"Oh my god, Gwen, he's bleeding out," the sight of his brother writhing on the floor frightened the tough soldier.

"Don't panic. That's just a small cut on his forehead," Wolfram could feel the warmth of Gwendal's healing majutsu inside him, clumsily done though it was. "But why is he bleeding from his mouth the most? A fall like that can't have possibly caused any internal injury, can it?" Conrart was worried. "Gwen, there's something wrong with him. You stay here and try to stop the bleeding. I'll go and find Gisela," Conrart touched Wolfram's forehead, murmuring, "Hang on there for a while, Wolf," and dashed out of the room, leaving Gwendal to take care of the barely conscious Wolfram.

The blood pool around Wolfram was getting bigger and bigger. Gwendal tried to stop the bleeding by applying more and more majutsu but since he didn't know the cause, it was hopeless. 'Hurry up, Conrart.' Wolfram was losing blood faster than a running faucet. It was like something was gnawing at the inside of his brother. 'Hurry up, Conrart, or they will be nothing to save.'

****

Yozak trod the waist-high undergrowth carefully. He didn't want to step onto something slithery and poisonous again. That one incident almost cost him his life. Why couldn't evil villains find a place without thick jungle and damp smell as a hideout? To think that he had to ruin his newly bought pink dress really annoyed him to no end.

He had just received a letter from Gwendal yesterday commanding him to investigate the Forlorne Forest and if possible lend a hand to the already dispatched recon troop. Now, after a day march and countless mosquito bites that made him itched like hell, Yozak still couldn't find neither the traces of the soldiers nor the villain's den.

"Did the commander send me to the right place?" He wondered aloud. It was unlike Gwendal to make mistakes regarding something as important as this. He had taken another route so he didn't pass Cyndwal but he had heard stories from the travelers whose meals he had shared on his way here.

"Now what?" He yelled loudly as his left foot came into contact with something mushy and kind of slippery. "Arghh….don't tell me another snake?" He looked down and carefully shifted his foot his foot to have a better look. He sighed with relief when he saw none of the long and scaly body of the reptile. But moment later, he gasped in horror when he finally took in the sight of the object on the ground. It was a human torso, the upper part still clad in the red and white uniform of the von Radford's army.

Yozak drew his sword, his eyes drifted from left and right, up and down. With his hand still tightly clutching the sword, he bent over to check on the gory flesh. It seemed to his trained eyes that whoever owned that body part was dead almost three days ago. It had started to rot.

Sword still unsheathed, he combed the surrounding area for more clues. What he did found were more body parts. There was only one body that was not entirely mutilated with the exception of his almost severed head. Searching more thoroughly, he found a bloody trailed and followed it to a small mound overlooking some sort of entrance.

"Gotcha! Finally I found you."

Yozak paused for a while to write a report to be sent to Blood Pledge Castle. Satisfied, he carefully moved towards the entrance to the ancient ruins. He'd heard about these particular ruins from his many travels abroad, saying that those were remnants of a race from long ago, neither human nor Mazoku. Not that he cared now more than he cared then, but now this place gave him a creep. Vines slithered on the ground like thousands of snakes, waiting to strike. Moss covered the collapsed walls like a coat of paint. He could've sworn that he heard and saw living things before he passed the threshold but now that he was inside the place was eerily silent, void of life. There was not even a single mosquito buzzing near his ears.

Yozak cautiously made his way towards what seemed to be an altar. His whole body was on the alert mode, every muscle strained, all senses heightened.

'_So far so good. No sign of the bad guy…..yet'_. His eyes darted around, eyes checking every nook and every crevice and every shadow. He didn't want to end up like the recon troop. _'That must've been one hell of a death.'_

Finally, he reached the altar. As his gut told him there he found more body parts strewn all over the place. Then it occurred to him that there was some sort of pattern formed. In the middle of the pattern, there were five partly smashed human heads, revealing the pink color of the brain. There were some kind of lettering written with the gray matters on the floor; writing he had never seen before. Yozak felt his stomach churned.

"Oh God, this is revolting!" He threw up what was left of his lunch. He now desperately wished he was still in his rented room, happily dreaming about some girls or better yet, about this one particular guy. In all his life as a soldier of Shin Makoku, he had never seen the dead being treated as horrible as this. The sight before him was extremely unpleasant; one he could never forget all of his life.

After having his stomach cleared, his eyes caught a bone jutting out from under the nearest bushes. "Now, what do we have here?" He crawled on all four, still feeling a little bit dizzy from all the sight he had just beheld. He swept aside the leaves and twigs and found two almost perfect skeletons. They were both missing the skulls. Strapped to one of them with a leather belt, a dusty old book. He speculated that the person had strapped the book under his or her clothes to avoid being detected and whoever killed the person didn't even have the slightest idea of the book's existence.

Yozak carefully undid the buckle and retrieved the book. "Sorry to disturb your slumber but I need this," he told the skeleton. Finished with his task, he thoughtfully cover up the skeletons again, not wanting who or whatever still dwelt there to notice that it's lair had been disturbed. Satisfied that he had managed to make the place looked like he was never there, he gave the place one last look before turning around and headed towards the entrance. "Time to go home," he said sadly, praying silently for the fallen soldiers and vowed that he would come back to give them proper burials.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for those who are still reading this story. Although there aren't much reviews but the story traffic is quite good (considering...). Anyway, hope you enjoyed this as much as I had enjoyed concocting the plot. It was tiring. Reviews are much appreciated, minnasan. It will do wonder to budding writer like me. Next chapter: The Angry Maou and The Determined Prince. 

P/S: To those who are wondering why I'm still calling Wolfram a 'prince', for me, once a prince always a prince. (You know, like, what Aslan said to the kids in Narnia!!)


	7. The Angry Maou and the Determined Prince

Another update coming your way. Omatase dana….. As usual not Beta-ed so sorry in advance for any unintentional grammar mistakes and for the not-unintentional OOC (double negatives make it positive right?). Anyway, ignore my ranting and please enjoy your reading and reviewing..

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Kyou Kara Maou or any characters from it. I DO OWN Corintha, evil though she may be….

* * *

Chapter 6 – The Angry Maou and the Determined Prince

Footsteps could be heard all over the castle that early morning. Everywhere was chaos. The maids were busy cleaning the bloodstain in Gwendal's office. The soldiers were put into alert mode for the fear that somebody (or something, for that matter) might be attacking the castle in order to get to Wolfram. Even the Bad Omen birds were already crowing their infamous 'Bad Omen' chants despite the early hours. Nobody could sleep.

One particular occupant of the castle was running with his life at the moment. He was closely followed by a petit figure behind him. Once or twice, the one ahead would stop to wait for the one behind. The journey from the Maou Royal Bedchamber to the infirmary was not really that long, but today of all days, Yuuri felt that the journey lasted longer. Deep in his heart, he was afraid of what he would find once he was there. Would there still be a certain blond waiting for him? _'Knock it off, Yuuri. Wolfram won't die that easily,'_ the king slapped his face a few times, earning him a puzzled look from his daughter. _'If he did die, I'll raise him up and kill him again for dying on me.'_

"Where is he?" Yuuri asked as soon as he saw Conrart. He was still trying to catch his breath when Greta arrived, eyes red from crying.

"Gisela is working on him at the moment," instead of Conrart, it was Gwendal who answered his question. Conrart was still unmoving from his spot, hands in his pockets, with a blank look on his face. He was oblivious to everything that was happening at the moment. Yuuri turned to look at Gwendal. To his horror, the commander's green uniform was soaked in Wolfram's blood or at least that was what he thought.

"What happened?" Murata who had mysteriously appeared by their sides, (a feat he learned from Shinou, no doubt) wanted to know. Shinou, however, was nowhere to be found at the moment. By this time, everybody was paying attention to the two brothers, seeking to hear the actual truth.

Gwendal looked at Conrart in the faint hope that his younger brother would step up to the occasion but the man just stood there, not even moving a muscle. Sighing deeply, he reluctantly filled them all in on the event that led up to them standing in front of the wooden door. Greta upon hearing this broke down crying again. Annissina, who had just arrived, swiftly went to her side to her unofficial protégé and silently hugged her, lending Greta her strength.

"Gwendal, I think now is the right time to tell your mother about all this," Günter interjected softly. "If you're not sure where she is, I'm sure Ulrike would love to help you find her," he added. Gwendal closed his eyes, cursing the circumstances he was in. of course, he knew, his mother should know all about this. Although Lady Cecilie wasn't what he would call a model mother, with all the work cut out for her as the Maou, she was still a responsible and loving mother in her own way. It would be unfair to left her out of this. He quite agreed with Günter to tell his mother about Wolfram's illness but he wasn't sure it was a good idea to involve her in the matter of Corintha. She should be able to live the rest of her life free from all these pressing matters. She had done her share when she was in office. Now, let the current administration handle it.

"I'm not sure that is a good idea, Lord von Voltaire," Murata pointed out. He was looking at Gwendal all these while.

"Excuse me?"

"I think I know what you were thinking, judging from your expressions to your body languages. Personally, I don't think it's such a good idea though," the Sage explained.

Gwendal was about to open his mouth when the door to the medical room was suddenly flung opened. Gisela was wiping her bloody hands on a piece of white cloth, her face unreadable. Beads of sweat adorned her forehead. Greta started to cry again when she saw how bloody Gisela was.

"We'll talk later, Lord von Voltaire," Murata finished off his brief conversation with Gwendal.

Conrart suddenly came back to life when he saw Gisela. "How is he?" he asked softly.

Gisela looked worn out, but she smiled faintly. "He is fine, but still in critical condition." The rest of them sighed with relief when she said that. Only one person appeared to be deep in his thought.

"What actually happened to him?" Shinou demanded. Since when he was there, no one could tell. There was none of his usual mischievous smirk or the evil glint in his eyes. At the moment, all they could see was the serious and angry Shinou. '_Nobody messes with my descendant.'_

Gisela sighed wearily. "I'm not exactly sure, Shinou Heika. It appears that the muscles surrounding his heart are weakening. His heart's not pumping blood efficiently as it should, causing stress to the heart. Moreover, there's a puncture wound on his lungs. His lungs almost crushed. A blood vessel near his heart was almost severed. That's what causing the profuse bleeding. Wolfram was drowning in his own blood. It took me a while to find the wound and seal it. It was too small to be noticed but was enough to kill him if it wasn't detected," she explained, keeping her voice down, not wanting to worry Greta more than she already had.

"But will he be alright? Will he make full recovery?" Yuuri's face was a mix of relief and worry.

Greta looked at the anxious king and chuckled kindly, "Don't worry Heika. He'll make fast recovery as fire wielders are known to be and he IS a strong fire wielder. But one thing concerns me though. The puncture wound is old, almost as old as His Excellency himself…."

"Yes, that's concerning," Günter cut in, appearing troubled.

"But Father, the fact that the wound is old does not concern me. What does is the fact that Wolfram starts bleeding now. Why didn't he bleed before? What had stopped the wound from bleeding before? And what triggered it to start bleeding now?" Her questions were greeted with shocked faces and utter silence.

Shinou was the first to find his voice after a long wave of silence. "Yes, thank you, Lady Von Christ. You are indeed your father's daughter. If I may suggest, I think you should refresh yourself. You've spent the whole night looking after Wolfram and you look tired. I believe the maids are preparing something for you as we speak. And I think you should go to, Lady von Kabernikoff, along with Greta," he suggested, not bothering to conceal the intention of getting rid of them.

Annissina got the cue. Although she really wanted to hear what they were about to discuss, she wouldn't dare to defy the Great One. Not unless she wanted to be turned into something unnatural. Quickly, she ushered the squirming Greta towards the kitchen, with the bloodied Gisela on tow. Maybe she could pry it later from Gwendal using one of her inventions.

"Oii Gisela. Can we go inside to visit Wolfram?" Yuuri called out after Gisela before the green-haired healer disappeared behind the corner. Gisela turned her face towards Yuuri and the king harshly backed away.

"What did she say? Can we go inside?" Murata asked, quite confused with the look on Yuuri's face. Yuuri just looked at the baffled Sage and shook his head vigorously.

"OK…understood," the Sage quickly dropped the matter.

"Well, the rest of you better get back to Lord von Voltaire's office. I'll catch up with you later. I need to have a peek at my descendant," Shinou told them before he disappeared.

"Yeah, better you than me, Shinou," Yuuri muttered under his breath. He looked longingly at the door. He really wanted to see how Wolfram was doing. It wasn't that he didn't trust Gisela, but he would feel a lot better if he could see him with his own eyes. He was sure that was what the rest of them were thinking. But Gisela knew best.

"Hei, Shibuya. Are you coming or not?" Murata turned around to see that Yuuri was still standing in front of the infirmary door. The rest of them had already started to move towards Gwendal office.

"Yeah…yeah… I'm coming," Yuuri gave the door one last longing look before turning on his heels.

The short journey to Gwendal's office was accompanied by total silence. They weren't exactly thinking deep; none of them were thinking at all at the moment. When they reached Cecilie's eldest son's office, still nobody said a word. They just sat down at the table and stared ahead. Conrart eyes kept looking at the spot were his brother was bleeding hours ago.

Tok. Tok. Tok.

"What the –?" Gwendal turned around to find a pigeon on his window sill. A parchment was tied to its leg. "I wonder if it's a report from Alberlin," he gingerly picked up the bird and untied the message.

"But that's not the colour of the von Radford, that's von Kabernikoff's," Günter pointed out, referring to the insignia on the bird's chest.

"Yeah, I see that you're right. Maybe Densham wants me to send his sister back," Gwendal hoped out loud. Smiling, he began unfolding the parchment.

After a while his smile faded. "This is not happening!" Gwendal slammed the table in anger, startling the occupants of the room. Conrart quickly went to his brother's side. He scanned the letter on the table and his expression too changed.

"What? What is it?" Yuuri was eager to know. Maybe Densham really wanted his sister back home and he could avoid having to pay for renovations around the castle and instead the money could be used for something useful for the country. But judging from the expression of the two brothers, that was unlikely. It was not wrong to hope though.

Conrart looked up from the parchment with tired eyes. "There was another attack last night at Hyreth."

For a brief moment, everyone forgot how to breathe. They were just too stunned to do anything. Once again the room was plunged into absolute silence. Then, the rage came.

"WHAT?!" Screams and curses could be heard, angry faces could be seen, ragged breath could be heard. At that moment, a lot of commotion took place inside that small office of Gwendal's. After a few minutes and countless of Lamaze breathing, the situation calmed down a little bit. Murata found his voice. "How many perished this time?"

All faces turned to Gwendal and Conrart. "Well considering the number of villagers in Hyreth, this time it's relatively small," Gwendal cleared his throat before continuing, "about 500."

Yuuri choked. "500 is not a small number. 5 or maybe 50 are, but not 500."

"Well, taking into consideration that the population was over 5000, that IS a small number, Heika," Gwendal explained patiently.

"OK…fine. Small it is! But why?" Yuuri asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Evidently, Hyreth has at least one water wielder. It's a Mazoku village. Furthermore, yesterday morning I sent a message to every land to make sure that they equip all the villagers on their territories with water wielder," Gwendal shot Yuuri an annoyed look. _'Oppss, I forgot I signed the order myself. Silly me,'_ Yuuri thought, embarrassed.

"But the plan isn't 100% effective. They are still innocent people dying. At this rate, we'll lose half of the population faster than we can say 'Bingo'," Conrart seemed worried.

"Yes, Lord Weller is right. But that is the only solution we have for now. If we want to stop all this, the only way is to stop Corintha. When did this happen, Lord von Voltaire?" Murata inquired curiously. Instead of Gwendal's voice, a familiar voice near his left ear answered, making the Great Sage jumped.

"It happened just before midnight, am I right?" Shinou looked straight at Gwendal. To Murata, he said, "Sorry again, my dear Sage," rather mockingly. Murata just looked at him, a look of disbelief on his face. _'You're not sorry even a bit, you sick prankster.' _

"Yes, you're right, Shinou Heika."

"And I have a little addition. The attack happened at the precise moment Wolfram started bleeding."

For the umpteenth times that day, a total silence swept the room. Nobody moved. Nobody made any attempt to speak. It was as still the time stood still.

"Are you sure, Shinou Heika?" Conrart managed to croak after a moment.

"Yes, I'm positively sure. I actually felt it the moment Corintha started attacking Hyreth. Not wanting to make the same mistake as I did with Cyndwal, I informed Ulrike and had her sent a message to Lord von Kabernikoff. At the same time, I felt that Wolfram's life force was getting weaker. That's why I crept into Wolfram's room to make sure," Shinou stated, casually leaning against Murata's head.

"I gather you found what you were searching for?" Günter asked carefully.

"Yes, you're quite right, Lord von Christ. I did find what I've been searching and more," Shinou looked preoccupied.

"What is it, Shinou Heika?" All eyes were on the small, dead monarch on Murata's shoulder.

"I'm not sure yet. I still need a few more digging." With that, he vanished from Murata's shoulder.

"I really hate it when he does that."

****

Yozak was extremely tired and extremely smelly. He hadn't been able to take any shower in the last four days, not since he received the letter from Gwendal. He had avoided all the inns and boarding houses. In fact, he had avoided any contact with either human or Mazoku. Something about the book made him go to great length to protect it. Something about the book made him realized how important it was in understanding the current situation. Now after a day zigzagging across the country, he could finally see the towers of Blood Pledge Castle. He could almost feel the warmth of water on his coarse skin. Spirit somewhat restored, Yozak tightened the reins on his horse and the already exhausted beast tried to please her master by running faster.

Half an hour later, Yozak reached the outskirt of the town. "Ahh, finally arrived …safely," he exhaled, greatly relieved that he managed to reach the castle in one piece. Yozak was trotting slowly when he saw Conrart near the entrance. The brown-haired soldier was looking rather gloomy.

"Good afternoon, Captain," Yozak greeted him cheerfully.

Hearing a voice that he had rather missed, Conrart turned around to where the voice came from. A smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth but then it died halfway. "There's nothing good with this morning," instead he replied.

Yozak furrowed his brows. Conrart was acting strange. "What's wrong, Conrart?"

Conrart grew quiet. He looked distressed. "You go on first. I'll tell you later. I still need to address some issues. Besides, I think you're in a bad need of shower. You stink to the high heaven. What did you use as soap? Cow manure?" Conrart said, a half smile etched his face.

"Oh ha-ha-ha, Captain. So funny. I can barely breathe from all the laughter," Yozak countered sarcastically. Then he added, "That's not the way to talk to the message-bearer."

Conrart's head snapped up. "You have something on Corintha?"

"Is that what it is called? The one who destroyed Cyndwal?" Conrart nodded impatiently. "I rather prefer 'The Immoral Destroyer'. But whatever suits you, Captain. Anyway see you in the Commander's office soon. And you better prepare yourself," Yozak gave Conrart a wink before galloping to the castle, his orange hair bright against the grey sky.

****

Wolfram opened his eyes slowly. For some reason he felt a little bit drowsy at the moment. The patterns on the ceiling did a little circle dance, making him closed his eyes abruptly. His mouth was dry and tastes funny. Every muscles in his body ached.

"You're awake, Wolfram?" the golden-haired soldier heard a small voice beside his bed. He turned around and saw Greta, her eyes red and puffy. Wolfram squinted at the scene in front of him, disapproving the way his daughter looked.

"What happened to you, Greta? You look like you didn't sleep for a week," Wolfram said, sounding stern even with his feeble voice.

Greta smiled sweetly at his father. Wolfram's eyes had lost all its grandeur and were now the colour of dull green. "I'm alright, Wolfram. It's you I'm worried about."

Wolfram looked hard at Greta. He could hear the wobbling of her voice when she said she was worried. He could tell from the look Greta gave him that he had given the little princess a bit of a scare. "What happened, Greta? Where am I? Why am I feeling like hell?"

"You don't remember?"

Wolfram shocked his head. Everything was a little bit fuzzy. "The last thing I remember was Gwendal giving me one heck of a lecture about something then everything went pitch black."

"Something?" Greta looked at her father inquiringly.

Wolfram closed his eyes for a brief moment. As much as he wanted to tell Greta about it, his conscience forbade him to do so. Greta was a mere teenager. She shouldn't have to shoulder the burden her parents had created. Finally, he answered, "Yes, something."

The finality of the tone made Greta shut her mouth. It was obvious that Wolfram still thought that Greta didn't know about the annulment but she wasn't stupid; she knew. She could see the strained relationship between her fathers. However, if Wolfram didn't want to tell her, he must had a good reason and she had to be patient. Sooner or later, he would tell her.

"So, what actually happened to me, Greta?" Wolfram eventually had to ask after seeing the petit princess in deep thought.

"Huh, what?"

Wolfram had to smile. Greta, when caught off guard, was really cute. "What happened, Greta?"

"Oh, that. I'm not exactly sure. I tried to eavesdrop but Gisela only talks to the adults. I was left out," she huffed, quite angrily.

"So, do you mind if I talked privately with Wolf, Greta?" Yuuri was standing at the door, hand across the chest, looking tired and in need of rest.

Wolfram, upon seeing Yuuri at the door, tried to sit up but the sudden movement caused his head to spin. Greta, when she saw this, quickly supported Wolfram and helped him to sit upright on the bed.

"Yuuri, can I stay here? I want to know what happened to Wolfram too. Please!" The brown-eyed girl tried to reason with her other father. "I really want to know."

"If you really want to know, go and ask Gisela. Wolfram and I have something important to discuss," Yuuri's voice sounded stern but Greta stood her ground.

"Can't I know too?" She asked, her voice rising a little bit. "It's about the annulment, isn't it?"

Both faces looked at her, stunned. "How did you know?" Yuuri asked, his voice quivering a little bit.

"I'm not stupid, oh dear fathers. Never once in these past five years, Wolfram really moved out of the room. A night or two maybe. And Wolfram has never taken all his belongings with him. So putting two and two together, that was the conclusion I came up with. But why?" Greta bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying. She was tired of crying and appearing weak.

Wolfram and Yuuri looked at each other, unable to speak. Obviously, they were not the only ones who were hurting.

"I –things happened, Greta. A lot of things happened these past years. And sometimes, we just had enough and we want it all to stop," Wolfram said, he said, his voice small and full of pain. "Not everything we want, we can get. There's a limit to everything," he fell quiet. "And I've reached mine."

"So, you're giving up…you're quitting," Greta asked, looking angrily at Wolfram.

Wolfram sighed. "Quitting and knowing when to stop are two different things. Sometimes, we cannot force things to happen." _'Such as love.'_

Greta turned to face Yuuri, who was silent all these while. "So, you're alright with that, huh?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Look, Greta, I know you're upset," Yuuri started, putting his head on Greta's right shoulder. "But –"

Greta snorted. "Upset?! That's an understatement!"

Wolfram shot a look at his daughter. "Greta, that wasn't very dignified for a girl," he admonished sternly.

"And you think I care about that?" Greta wasn't going to back down. "We're family, aren't we? So, why are you keeping this a secret from me? Do you really think that whatever decision you make won't affect me?" Greta voice was getting louder and louder. The parents had never seen Greta as angry as that, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Who am I to you?" she asked brokenly.

"Gre–," Yuuri began but there was a sudden knock on the door. Instead, he said, "Come in." Greta looked murderously at Yuuri, huffed angrily and stormed out of the room, nearly knocking down the visitors.

Two stunned green-uniformed guards came in. After saluting the Maou, one of them said, "Lord von Voltaire had requested an audience in his office, Heika. The spy Yozak had come back and seemed to be carrying some news."

Yuuri shot an angry look at the messengers. _'Why, oh why did you have to come here and say that in front of Wolfram? Now, he's going to get out of bed and insisting on hearing the news,' _he mentally cursed the two guards to perdition.

True enough, Wolfram had already climbed out of his bed and started to walk towards the door. Before Yuuri had the opportunity to open his mouth to object, the blond prince turned around and gave him a look that clearly said, _'Don't even think of it or you'll be sorry.'_

****

When Yuuri opened the door with Wolfram by his side, Gwendal's first reaction was to scream bloody murder at the young king for bringing his brother along with him. From the little information Yozak had reported to him before he had to send the spy for a bath, what Yozak was about to say wasn't good at all. That was why he was quite relief that Wolfram was still unconscious the last time he checked on him. But now, the usually prim and sharp dressed Wolfram was standing at the door, looking disheveled with only a white robe covering his frail frame. He looked sternly at Yuuri, wanting for an explanation.

Yuuri, the moment he stepped into the room, could feel murderous intent emitting from various sources in the room. When he looked around, he could feel that Gwendal and Conrart were looking daggers at him. At first, Yuuri was at a loss of words. But then something clicked in his mind. _'Are they actually blaming me for Wolfram being here?'_

"Wait a second. You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?" Yuuri's face grew hot. Why was he always in the middle of something like this?

"Then, why is Wolfram here? I thought Gisela made it clear that Wolfram still needs to be in the infirmary," Gwendal asked sternly. When it came to Wolfram, Gwendal and Conrart wouldn't compromise, even with the Maou.

"Blame that on your guards, please. They were the one who blurted out your request in front of Wolfram," Yuuri fumed. _'This week is officially the worst week of my life.'_

Wolfram, ignoring the commotion around him, sat on the nearest chair. After making himself comfortable, he just stared at his brothers' bickering with the Maou. Although seeing the red-faced Yuuri trying to prove his innocence was funny, the noise was getting to him. Finally, he opened his mouth. "Really, Brother, does that really bother you? Who cares whose fault it was? Sassato hajimemasyouka?"

Gwendal stopped mid-sentence. His face registered surprise at the sudden intrusion. "Or do you intend to keep this from me yet again, dear Brother?" Wolfram fixed Gwendal a stare, challenging the older brother to contradict him. When no answer came out of either Gwendal's or Conrart's mouths, Wolfram muttered, "I thought so. So can we start this already?"

Gwendal looked angrily at Wolfram. He knew the golden-haired brother of his too well to force him back to the infirmary. Left with no choice but to proceed, he motioned for Yozak to take the centre stage. Yozak happily complied. He, for the sake of his own sanity, wanted to get rid of the book a.k.a. the burden as soon as possible. Only after doing that could he find solace again. But first, he had to report about the fate of the recon troop.

"Sonna……," Yuuri was speechless after hearing Yozak _'colourful'_ explanation. The Maou inside him was stirring just like a few days ago, he could feel it. He had managed to keep himself under control when he heard about Hyreth, but the recent news was just like a sour cream on top of a spoilt cake.

'_Calm done, Maou,'_ Yuuri had to tell his alter ego off.

'_Why should I?'_ came the angry reply.

'_Because violence won't solve anything and you know that!'_

'_So, are you telling me to just let her be?'_ the Maou asked coldly.

'_No, we just need to have a better explanation before we crash into it head on,_' Yuuri was still trying his best to console his other self. _'Wait just a little while, OK?'_

'_Until when, Yuuri? Until all of Shin Makoku has been wiped out by the dreaded monster?'_

'_Just a little bit more, Maou,'_ Silence. No answer. The Maou had resumed his slumber in an angry state.

Yuuri snapped from his brief interlude with the spirit inside him back into reality. Yozak had just finished telling the rest of them that he made only one detour on his journey home and that was to inform Lord von Radford the fate of his men.

"The reason why Lord von Radford didn't dispatch a search team is because they had sent a letter to stop communicating unless something occurs," he said, face a little bit green from remembering the state of the cadavers.

The others fell silent, thinking deeply about what Yozak had just said. But Yozak wasn't finished yet. "Now comes the good part." He produced the book and put it on the table. On the front page, a few words could be seen amidst the dust:

**My Life's Chronicle**

********

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Vocabulary:

Sassato hajimemasyouka? – Can we start as soon as possible? (Or something along the line!)

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A/N: Thank you to **pikeebo**, **Balance-The-Moon-And-Stars**, **turnersyndrome **and** Kaji126** for the reviews. Keep on reading and reviewing please, minnasan. Next chapter: The Book of Revelation (will not come out for a while because I have to write a paper on Architectural Design Throughout History ~mendoukusai, what should I write? Huaaa~. But I'll try to update as soon as possible. Maybe if I get incentives, let's say, in a form of reviews. LoL. *wink wink*)


	8. The Book of Revelation

Sorry for the late update. I'm just not good with deadlines. Anyhow, just enjoy the reading. Abundant OOC and plenty of grammar mistakes, I think, so please forgive me in advance.

Disclaimer: No need to remind me, I know.

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Chapter 7 – The Book of Revelation

"My Life's Chronicle? Whose life?" Gwendal demanded, eyes looking directly at the cross-dresser. Yozak gulped. If only look could kill, he'd die a thousand deaths from Gwendal's glares. _'But why is he mad at me? I'm just the bearer of news – bad news.'_

"Where did you find the book, Yozak?" It was Conrart's turned to ask question, although the spy hadn't gotten around to answering Gwendal's inquiry yet.

"In the ruin, near the altar. There were skeletons without skulls in the bushes; one of them was holding the book like it was holding on to dear life. So I figured it must be a very important book. Although I must say that I almost missed it; something made me turn towards that shrub. I was lucky, I guess," Yozak explained, a smirk adorning his boyish face. Gwendal could only marvel at the spy's ability to stay unaffected and buoyant during this troubled time and secretly wished he could be more like him.

Murata agreed, "Yes, lucky indeed." His interest peaked. The young Sage slowly made his way towards the book, hands slightly trembling from the adrenaline. A few inches shy of the book, however, he stopped abruptly.

"Geika?"

Murata turned around to see seven dumbfounded faces looking at him, eyes unblinking.

"Sorry, I'm just wondering whether it's OK for me to open this book or not," he clarified, a frown on his face.

"We don't mind, Geika. You should open it," Gwendal looked quite taken aback by Murata's behavior. The Sage never asks for anyone's permission to do anything. He just dove into whatever amused him without so much of a second thought.

Murata himself wasn't actually looking for consent. He was the Great Sage for crying out loud. He stopped because he was being careful. "That's not what I meant, Lord von Voltaire. I'm actually talking about whether the book has any protection charm or something," Murata said, his glasses gleamed knowingly.

Hearing that, Annissina who was invited solely because Gwendal was tired of hearing her whining about being left out the last time (which Gwendal had kindly pointed out was Shinou's doing), quickly rose to the occasion. "Worry not, Daikenja-sama. I have the perfect solution for this," she bent down and pulled out a contraption similar to a hair dryer.

Yozak softly nudged Conrart who was sitting next to him. "How did she know what to bring to what occasion?" he whispered, cupping his mouth, hoping that Annissina wouldn't hear him.

The man besides him just shrugged, "Beats me!"

Annissina put the device in front of Murata, who made an involuntary leap backward. Annissina didn't seem to notice or pretend not to notice. "This Nandemo-Tokeru Kun will dispel any charm known to man. Plus, it's powered by Bat-array so," she hastily added when seeing Gwendal and Günter started to shrink in their seats, "….I have no use of you cowards today."

"Fine then," Murata thrust the book into Annissina's hands. The wacky scientist then quickly flicked the "ON' button and ran the device over the book. At first, there was no reaction from the gadget but when she ran it over the book's clasp, there was a deafening ring. Wolfram scrunched his eyes. The noise was making his headache worse. Then three seconds later, the ringing stopped, followed by a green light that engulfed the entire book.

"Here you go, Geika. Once the green glow fades, you can open the book," she handed back the book to the perplexed Murata. The sage refused to touch the book.

"Ho-ho. You lots are mistaken if you think I'm going to open it now. Any volunteer?"

Nobody move except Annissina, whose face was red from embarrassment. "Are you saying that you don't trust my invention, Geika?"

Murata cringed. "Well, not exactly. You see–," he tried to explain kindly but Annissina just picked up the book and put it in front of Günter.

"You open it," she ordered the purple-haired advisor.

"But, Annissina–," Günter started to whine.

"OPEN IT!" That order was barked with such ferocity, poor Günter had no choice but to obey. Even Yuuri couldn't do anything. He could only watch the pitiful advisor fumbling with the clasp for a while before managing to release the book from its bound. With visibly trembling hands, he touched the cover and slowly lifted it up but not before saying a few prayers concerning the beautiful, magnificent and wise 27th Maou of Shin Makoku. _'I'll come back to haunt you for this Annissina!'_

The book was opened.

Nothing happened.

No explosion.

No killing curse.

Nothing.

"See, I told you. There's nothing to be afraid of," the red-haired disturber-of-peace picked up the book and handed it over to the open-mouthed Sage. "Now, will you just read it, Geika?"

"Err, yeah. Sorry about that Annissina," he faked a cough, trying to hide his embarrassment. Murata ran his palm slowly on the cover before opening the volume. He cleared his throat before reading out-loud.

"My Life's Chronicle by Ealya Roth," Murata's eyes widened. "Who's Ealya?"

"No idea," came the general reply. Nobody had ever heard of that name before. Murata was about to continue his reading when a male voice spoke.

"She was Corintha's servant."

"What?!"

"More precisely, she was one of Corintha's servants who our esteemed Lord von Voltaire and von Christ let escaped." Shinou casually sit on the Sages' shoulder.

"That carrot-haired woman?" Günter suddenly remembered his fight years back.

"Carrot-haired?" Nice choice of adjective, Lord von Christ," Shinou snickered. Günter lowered his head.

Murata inadvertently flipped the pages of the book. "Are you sure we should be reading this?" He stopped his movement and raised his head. "What if we waste our time all day reading this thick only-God-knows-how-many-pages book and find nothing?"

Yuuri looked straight at his best friend and blurted, "This is so unlike you, Murata."

"Yuuri's right, my Sage. And I'm pretty sure that book will help us understand more about Corintha," Shinou said. "And don't ask me why. I just know, alright?" he added when Gwendal was about to open his mouth.

"Fine then. If there's nothing in here, do me a favor and blame Shinou, will you? This is just a little girl's silly–," he stopped midsentence.

"What?"

"You're right, Shinou, as usual," Murata admitted begrudgingly. "I'll skip the first 536 entries. They're just normal entries."

"How do you know?" Wolfram asked annoyingly.

"Because Ealya said so," Murata held up the book upright to show what Ealya had written.

"Humph."

Murata ignored the pouting and cleared his throat, again. "Shinou, I presume you don't have any problem with me reading this?" The sardonic prankster just shook his head nonchalantly. He was never partial to reading books anyway. That's one of the reasons why he sought the Original Daikenja. "Alright, then…."

_Agenda 537_

_I finally came back to my worst memories. After all these years, I'm finally back in Vandery. Or what was left of it. The memory of that night came flooding back like it only happened yesterday. Corintha! That accursed name. I'd sworn to myself to find her and kill her even if it is the last thing I would ever do. And that Maou. Oh, that good for nothing Maou. Just you wait, you filthy swine, I'll exact revenge on you too. Just wait. I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!! …..But tonight I think I'll forget everything for a while and sleep where I used to sleep 50 years ago. And hope that mama and papa and Little Bianca will sleep with me too._

"Vandery? Wasn't Vandery that little town near Forlorne? The little town that was destroyed because the warehouse that stored the town's supply of oil caught on fire accidentally? Isn't that what we learned in history?" Wolfram asked looking questioningly at Gwendal and Günter, the supposedly mobile library of Shin Makoku.

Gwendal knitted his brows at his brother's innocent inquiry. "That' what I know. It happened 150 years ago. Even I was still young at that time. Mother didn't mention anything about it being other than accident," he said weakly, looking deeply troubled. _'Mother, did you–?'_

"All records stated that it was an accident. There was nothing that suggested we should believe otherwise," Günter croaked, hands rubbing his throbbing head.

"Now, we know it was Corintha's doing and Ealya was a Mazoku, not a human like we initially thought," Murata stated. He then turned to face Gwendal. "I believe we do have to call you mother back, Lord von Voltaire. I think there is something she's not telling us," his voice was authoritative. Gwendal could only gape at him and groaned inwardly. _'Mother!'_

"She was full of anger and hatred," Yuuri uttered sadly. "So, when she wrote that she wanted to sleep with her parents and Little Bianca, did she mean by killing herself?"

Conrart shook his head. "I don't think so, Heika. I don't think she wanted to die just yet, not before having her revenge. I think she was referring to their spirits," he turned to his older brother. "I think she was mentally unstable."

"Where did she stay before she went back to Vandery?" Wolfram asked the bespectacled the double black. "And why did she join Corintha if she really hated her?"

"She didn't say. The previous agendas were about her life before the fire, some crush with a boy named Evan and whatnot. I'm going to continue reading. Maybe we'll find something. Oh, and I think it would be best if we refrain ourselves from making too many comments. We'll allocate time for that later."

The rest just nodded.

_Agenda 538_

_I travelled the world trying to find any clue about the beast. But all I could find were dead ends after dead ends. I asked historians about any mysterious fire that destroyed villages. Nothing. Was my town a remote case? I don't know. Honestly, at this rate, I think I'll fail. I couldn't even find the answer to the simplest question of all; Who or what is she? – But I won't give up just yet. I didn't survive this 50 years of life for nothing. Maybe tomorrow I'll go to Dai Shimaron._

_Agenda 539_

_Finally, something to tie down Corintha. Apparently, every thousand of years or so, there were cases of missing people. The victims were never found. Victims were usually someone with power and status. Often, the victim's home were burned down, sometimes killing the whole family. This went back before Shinou's time. The earliest reports of disappearance dated back 10,000 years ago in a land called Elveskold now known as Bandarbia. Then 1,00 years later, in the modern Fransia. The last disappearance was in Shin Makoku from the von Thiessen's family, Lady Catriona von Thiessen. Her whole family was murdered and their remains were dumped at the entrance to the castle. It was 2,000 years ago. I don't know why but I can feel it in my guts that all of these events were the works of Corintha. I can feel it._

"von Thiessen.." Wolfram whispered the name.

_Agenda 540_

_Another fire. It was like Vandery all over again. I was in Elindurd, Caloria when I heard one of the villages outside the town was burning just after midnight. I peered out of the window and saw the fire licking the entire village. Just imagined how big the fire must've been for me to be able to see despite the distance. I quickly rode of to the town. Screaming of pain and crying for loved ones could be heard, just like I screamed and cried years ago. Surprisingly, I didn't feel any sadness or sympathy towards the victims and honestly, I was scared. Was I too wrapped up in this quest for vengeance that I threw away my humanity? Was I becoming a monster just like Corintha?_

Murata stopped for a while before saying, "She scratched the last three sentences out and wrote _instead 'Ignore this rambling. My moment of weaknesses. Am sitting down on the ground enjoying the fire show while writing this entry.'_"

"She's sick," was the only thing that Yuuri could say about Ealya.

Murata's look hardened when he heard what Yuuri had just said. "You have to take into consideration that she'd lost her family the same way, Shibuya. She'd seen enough when her parents died. Nothing could overtake that horror. So what she saw that night was a mere repetition but with different casts. I can't blame her for feeling that way. You have no idea what it feels like to watch your family die but was powerless to do anything," his tone was melancholic.

Yuuri swallowed whatever remarks he was thinking of hurling at the Sage. Murata was his best friend, sure, but he knew almost nothing about the Sage's past life except what he was told. "I'm sorry, Murata."

Murata smiled bitterly. "It's OK really. Now let's continue. Here's Agenda 541 and apparently the entry was written three years after the previous entry. She had already found Corintha and was her servant." Then he added hastily when Günter was about to say something, "Don't ask me how. She didn't say." Günter's question died with that.

_Agenda 541_

_The b**** thought that she had managed to mind control me completely. What a joke! I am not as feeble-minded as that ape she called her servant. Furthermore, I was the one who found her and I chose to serve her from my own will although I bet as she didn't notice that. Might as well be that way or I'm going to have one heck of a time trying to dig my escape if she found out. Anyway, I have found the perfect way to punish that skanky Maou…._

"How–dare–she? Gwendal was seething in his seat. Nobody bad-mouthed his mother. Conrart could almost see the veins throbbing. He reached and slowly stroked his brother's shoulder, trying to calm him.

"Remember Gwen. She's already dead," he said softly. All eyes were on those two. Gwendal just nodded. "I'm alright, Geika. Please resume your reading."

"Umm…. alright. Where we are?"

……_and put her life into hell just as she did mine. I'm gonna use her newborn son for Corintha's ritual. Ha, ha. I'm such a genius. This way, I can kill two b****es with one life. I can't wait for that day to come. I just had to pretend I'm still searching for a suitable candidate so that Corintha won't suspect anything. After more than 50 years, I'm on my way to get my revenge, finally._

The room fell into absolute silence as Murata finished reading the last sentence. Outside, the chanting of _'Bad Omen'_s could be heard despite the late hour. The sun had already set, the lack of sunlight casting gloomy shadows into the once brightly-lit room. But nobody made any move to light up the room.

"So, Mother was the reason why I was kidnapped," Wolfram blurted out after what seemed an eternity, his voice weak and kind of wet. Nobody could tell if he was crying or not and nobody was stupid or cruel enough to ask. Even Shinou kept his usually say-without-thinking mouth shut.

A sound of chair being pushed could be heard, ending the silence spell. Conrart stood up suddenly, mumbling, "Let me light up the candles. It's getting da…," but was cut midsentence by a huge fireball hovering over Wolfram's quivering palm.

"You want light? Here is your light!" The fierce prince held his fiery palm in front of him. "Bright enough for you, dear Brother? Or you want it bigger?" With that, the livid blonde pumped more power into the fireball thus making it bigger and hotter.

Annissina shrieked. She could practically feel the heat emitting out of Wolfram's body. Gwendal was already on his feet; looking worriedly at his brother, mind contemplating whether he could get near Wolfram or being roasted before he ever got the chance. Conrart quickly went to his older brother's side and at the same time trying to calm the enraged blond prince. "Calm down, Wolfram. You're going to burn down this room."

Wolfram completely ignored Conrart. Instead he started yelling his thoughts. "What did Mother do to piss that psycho so much she wanted to kill me?" Nobody answered. "Why do bad things always happen to me?" Nobody answered. "First, the accidental engagement, the unwilling fiancé, then the forbidden box's key, and now this? What did I do in my past life to deserve all these?" The fire was getting bigger by the second. Still nobody answered.

"ANSWER ME!" He screamed. Another burst of fire. The room was getting hotter.

Shinou sighed, defeated. Fire Mazoku's power came from their intense and extreme emotions, be it hatred, love or anger. And right now, his descendant was unleashing all of the buried feelings at one go and that spell nothing but disaster. With his current emotions, he would burn down not only the castle, but the entire capital. Rolling his eyes, he walked towards Wolfram much to Murata's chagrin.

"What are you doing, Shinou? Come back here. He'll fry you alive," Murata hissed, his voice desperate.

"For your info, Sage, I'm dead. There's nothing he could do to kill me. Besides, I'm saving your life. You should be grateful," And with that he vanished into thin air. Wolfram's fire-acrobat also ceased to exist.

"Continue reading, Murata. I'll talk to Wolfram and try to calm him down. At least he can't run amok in his own mind." The blonde prince said to the Sage. Murata just nodded. He knew what was going on.

Yuuri on the other hand, didn't. The young king jumped from his seat. "Is that you, Wolfram?" he asked, peering curiously.

The blonde sneered. "Why would I address myself in third person form if I was Wolfram? No, Wolfram is in his subconscious. I'll let him cool down inside," Shinou/Wolfram explained with that pompous attitude of his. Yuuri face turned beet red, embarrassed by his own naïveté. "But, geez, this kid is surely messed up. He holds on to too many emotions, I can't tell what from what. And Yuuri…," the blonde turned to the perplexed king, "…he's hurting so much." Shinou ended that sentence with a dramatic exit from the room. "Do continue reading, my Sage. Wolfram and I will catch up later," he called out over his shoulders.

The room was left silence. After that 'exuberant' fire showmanship, it seemed like everybody was glued to their seats. Then, Yozak broke the curse. He stood up suddenly, "Anybody fancies a drink?"

****

Wolfram's body ached from head to toe. For the second time in one day, he woke up as if a boulder was on his head. Sitting was a burden so he decided to just lie down, covering his eyes with his right arm. Under him, he could feel the softness of the cloud. _'The cloud? Wait, what?'_

Seconds later, Wolfram was plunging down head first. Everywhere he turned, he could only see the whiteness of his surrounding. No solid ground was visible to break his never ending fall. Wolfram desperately trying to grab at the cloud, hoping something could slow his plunge. _'Oh god, this is not happening. Help me! Help me! Help me, Mother!'_

"Mother!!"

"Ah… I see that you're awake now, Lord von Bielefeld," Shinou was standing on Wolfram's chest, weightless as he was.

"Where am I?" The temperamental blonde demanded.

"In the infirmary…. again," Shinou answered.

"But…. but…. I thought….what?"

"That you're falling to your death? Well, that was all in your head," Shinou smirked, knocking his knuckles on the prince's forehead. "But, I have to say it was nice of you to call for your mother when you were about to die. Are you no longer mad at her?" The Great One prodded gently.

The seemingly innocent question made the blonde cringe. Why did Shinou have to say that? Why did he have to be reminded of that? Wolfram felt so conflicted with himself at that moment. The wrath he felt inside him made him feel sick. He felt betrayed.

Shinou sighed. He could see the pain in Wolfram's eyes. The last time he was in the fire wielder, his soul was almost a perfect circle. Of course, as long as one was human or Mazoku, there would be regrets here and there. But now, the soul was void of any shape. It wasn't bright. It looked like a dead man's soul, a sure sign that Wolfram was beginning to lose faith in everything he used to hold dear to him.

"I know not why your mother did what she did, if she did anything at all, but I'm sure she wouldn't want it to become a burden to any of you or she wouldn't have done it," Shinou said, trying to sound soothing. "I'm sure she'd thought only the best for her children. She loves you, all of you, afterall."

Wolfram couldn't believe his ears. Shinou was actually trying to soothe him. But hearing that made him angrier than ever. His eyes bulged dangerously. "Oh really? And you know that because…… oh wait, you don't. You just said the first thing that came to your mind, that you find comforting to me. Really, Shinou Heika, if I wanted to be comforted, I would rather do it with a bottle of whiskey," the emerald-eyed blonde snorted.

'_How good it would feel if I could beat some sense into him?'_ Shinou found himself thinking but quickly smacked his head hard, mentally. Wolfram was his descendant and violence never solves anything. "Is that so? By all means, feel free to do that, then. But let me warn you, Lord von Bielefeld, you're uncontrollable temper and emotions will be your downfall, mark my word. You should know better what being a fire Mazoku with a raging frame of mind would mean. Think about it," Shinou told the stunned prince in front of him.

'_My temper and emotion will be my downfall? So it was Shinou who said that. Or was it?'_ Wolfram's head was splitting with pain. With all the things that had been happening in his life, sometimes he wondered if he was even loved by the higher power.

"Wolfram," Shinou started, addressing his descendant with his given name, a feat he rarely did. "I don't know what it is that bothers you. I doubt if I ever will. There is a limit to what I can do. I'm not a God, even if I like to play one. But I want you to know that there are a lot of people that will go through hell for you and with you if only you let them in. Your brothers, for instance," Shinou stopped delivering his 'speech' and looked at the overwrought prince in front of him. In essence, Wolfram was so much like him. They both carried their burden alone and suffered alone and hurt alone. While it was too late for him to change his path, to spare the ones he loved from the inevitable, Shinou realized there was still time to push Wolfram out of his destructive fate. The older blonde lowered his voice significantly when he said, "Don't ever think that you are not loved, because you are." _'Even by that wimpy fiancé of yours.'_

Wolfram scoffed. "Oh, that is so touchy feely," he said sarcastically. "Tell me again why should I take your word on this? You're a train-wreck yourself," he spitted out every words like venom.

"It's because I was and am a train-wreck that I'm giving you this advice. I know what it was like to live life the way you're living it now. And why are you so defensive? It's not like I asked you to go and kill yourself. I merely ask you to stop trying to solve everything alone and trust the people around you. Is that so hard to do?" Shinou replied, gritting his teeth trying to keep his cool. He couldn't afford to fall to the same level as Wolfram or his effort would go down the drain. And on the bright side, Wolfram was kind of unleashing his emotions a bit.

"I don't know. You tell me. You're basically the breathing sample of distrustful," Wolfram countered.

"......"

"Look. Just leave me alone will you? I'm just tired of having to think all this. Go back to the book-reading session. Grace them all with your witty remarks or whatever, I don't care. But just leave me alone," Wolfram said before burying his face in the pillow and stopped moving altogether.

"Lord von Bielefeld?"

"......"

"Wolfram?"

"......"

"I'm still the Great One, you know. What I say, goes," Shinou tried to coax Wolfram out of his depression.

"....."

'_Oh, great! Murata's gonna be pissed.'_

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A/N: Thank you to **sillyme**, **turnersyndrome**,** ELENIOFME** and **nickypooh** for the reviews. The most reviews I had for a chapter. Guess still have a lot of way to go. May not be able to update as swift as before. Once a month maybe. My short-span-of-attention syndrome has kicked in again. Can't sit still long enough to think. Next chapter (hopefully): **Does the Walker Choose the Path, or the Path the Walker?* **(Yeah, too long. Subjected to change by the neurotic author).

*Is Garth Nix's property.

P/S: More about the book in upcoming chapters.


	9. At The Crossroad: The Chain Of Fate

I know I said update won't come out for some time due to my short-attention-span syndrome. But turns out, my muse chose to work super hard on this chappy. As promised, more on the book in this chapter. But not all. Hold your horses, kids. Not Beta-ed, so….

Disclaimer: Bla..bla..bla..Yadda..yadda...yadda..I know it and you know it.

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Chapter 8 – At the Crossroad: The Chain of Fate

The field was deserted. Wolfram was standing awkwardly among the unknown species of flower. The color was vibrant, almost red but not quite red, with a splash of orange and yellow. The four-petaled flowers stood no higher than Wolfram's calf but the blonde could smell the fragrance that was being emitted clearly. The smell reminded him a lot of his own, with a hint of jasmine.

Shaking the smell out of his head, Wolfram started walking away. Everywhere he turned, he could only see the flowers, flowers and more flowers. _'Where am I?'_ the prince scratched his head, confused by his surrounding. As far as he could tell, he was not in Shin Makoku. Those flowers did not exist in Shin Makoku, he could ascertain that. What was the use of being a son to an avid (or rather obsessed) flower lover if he could not do that? Right now, there was not a single living thing he could see. So asking for help was out of the question.

'_Heck, where the hell am I?'_ Wolfram started tofeel panic rising. He hated not knowing, he hated not being able to take control of his surrounding. His mind kept thinking the same questions over and over again; redundant. Where was he? How did he get here? Why was he here? His head started to ache and so did his body. Wolfram felt frustrated but decided to continue walking as far as his feet could take him and as far as his energy could spare him.

After what seemed like a thousand years, the exhausted blonde arrived someplace he thought he had seen before; whether in reality or in his dream, he could not tell. He was standing at the entrance to a very big city, surrounded by lush greenery. Seeing the scenery in front of him, Wolfram started to back away a little bit. The buildings were not local; the designs did not resemble anything he had ever seen. They were beautiful and out-of-this-world. The fire Mazoku could see people of regal bearing walking inside the wall, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Wolfram was contemplating whether or not to go inside. His heart was leaning for him to go but his head was telling him otherwise.

A rush of wind blew softly, rustling the leaves at his feet.

'_Wolfram.'_ The wind seemed to call his name.

'_What?'_ The blonde startled, jumping out of his skin. "Who's there?" He called, voice quivering a little.

'_Wolfram.'_ There it was, one more time. _'Come hither, Wolfram.'_

Then a scream._ 'Wolfram!!!' _

****

Wolfram woke up with cold sweat dripping off of him. He could still hear the shrill scream reverberating inside his head. He could even smell the flowers. Did that mean all of that was not a dream? If that so, what DOES it mean? More importantly, who was calling to him? Like it was crying out for him to enter the capital. The emerald-eyed prince could feel his head throbbing for the millionth times since the conversation with Yuuri that felt like a thousand years ago. Day by day, the questions that decided to take residence in his mind grew, leaving him exhausted and drained. For the love of Shinou, he had no idea why all these were happening to him. It was like the start of a historical movie, one full of blood and gore and scream and pain.

"Wolfram, you're awake?" It was Conrart, sitting on a chair besides his bed, looking quite uneasy. His brother looked more like someone who had just witnessed a ghost rather than 'brothersitting' him in his room. In short, he looked awful.

"Yeah, I'm up," he replied, trying to sit up straight on his bed. Conrart helped him up and placed a few fluffy pillows behind him, propping him up.

"We moved you out of the infirmary last night after Shinou had done talking with you," Conrart told him without being asked. "You were out cold," he added helpfully when seeing the confused look on Wolfram's exquisite face.

"Hmm…," the blonde replied, hand smoothing the sheet around him. "So, why are you here? How's the book reading party? Anymore interesting facts I should know?" He asked, not really expecting a straight answer from the brunette.

"Yeah… about that, we're actually waiting for you to get better and be there when it is read," the older man answered rather too swiftly. He had this air of nervousness around him, Wolfram could tell.

"What's up? You looked like you've just received a death sentence. Anymore bad news when I was out…. cold?"

"Nothing if you're referring to Corintha. But there is something else." Conrart said, eyes wildly searching his brother's, trying to fathom the inner working of his mind, whether it was a good idea to tell or not.

"I'm all ears," was Wolfram's only respond before he fell silent, waiting for his Little Big Brother's reply. His left hand reached out for the glass of water by his bedside.

'_Heck, he'll know sooner or later. Might as well be done with it.'_ Conrart decided after a while. Inhaling a deep breath, he croaked, "Mother's coming back home."

The blonde chocked on the water, eyes bulging, trying to find breath. "Wh– wha–what?" he spluttered, wiping the trail of water from his mouth. "When?"

"The last Ulrike checked she was already in Shin Makoku's water. She might be here before midnight," he said. "It was Shinou Heika and the Sage's decision. And Gwendal consented."

"Yeah, whatever." Wolfram answered nonchalantly, sipping his water after spraying the lot of them on his sheet not a minute ago.

Conrart grew worried seeing his brother like that. He knew that Wolfram was always a very private child. He rather stored everything inside him than letting the people around him knew that he was angry or in pain or sad. That was what really frustrating to Conrart. They used to share everything about anything together, the both of them. But after the skeleton in the closet was found, everything changed. Wolfram preferred to bury everything in than telling him, just because he was half-human. And years later, after his supposed betrayal, the both of them grew quite close again, but not close enough for Wolfram to let him in to that place where he used to roam free and Conrart missed that. He missed the jolly boy who would follow him around. He missed the adorable child who would share his bed at times when there were storms. He missed everything about Wolfram before he became this person with an impenetrable barrier around him. He missed the original Little Lord Brat. And he wished he could turn back the hands of time.

****

Wolfram stayed inside his room the whole day. He had his breakfast and lunch brought into his room, eating alone although Greta insisted that he had his meals with her. Yuuri came a few times but he always pretended to be asleep. Gwendal visited just after he had his medicine administered by Gisela, asking him whether he was still angry about the whole things, to which he answered with a noncommittal shrug. Murata popped in after Gwendal, telling him that he could trust the perverted Sage to lend his shoulder whenever he needed one, no doubt the result of his conversation with the meddlesome dead king yesterday. As if he would lay himself bare in front of that man. Conrart also came but said nothing, just sitting at the chair he occupied hours before, leaving Wolfram to swim in his own thought.

Not long after Conrart left, there was a knock on the door. Figuring it was Yuuri again, since he was doing that every thirty minutes or so, Wolfram quickly closed the book he was reading and jumped into bed, clumsily covering himself with the heavily quilted blanket. He managed to look as if he was sleeping just as the person behind the door pushed it open. The blonde hastily closed his eyes.

"Wolfram," a soft voice called out, sounding feeble in his blanket-covered ears. _'That's not Yuuri. That's – Mother?'_

"Oh, Wolfram," Lady Cecilie sobbed softly. She walked quietly towards her son's four-posted bed, trying to keep her sobbing to the minimum.

Wolfram froze. He knew that his mother was supposed to come home today and he thought he had prepared himself sufficiently to face her and ask everything he wanted to ask. But now, when the moment came, there he was, hiding cowardly under the blanket, not daring himself to move even a fraction, while his mother stood just inches above him. _'What kind of a son am I?'_

Chérie reached out her hand and stroked the bulge she believed was Wolfram's head. Sitting himself at the edge of the bed, she bent down and hugged her son, tears streaming down her face.

"Wolfram! Oh, Wolf! What have I done?" She wept brokenly. Under her, Wolfram stiffened when he heard the weeping.

"I'm sorry, Wolfie. I had no idea my action would cause you this pain. I hate myself for causing you this pain. I hate myself for causing my children this pain," Chérie's cry became louder and louder. "I believed I was doing the right thing. I was wrong. I am wrong. I'm sorry, my dear Wolfie."

As Chérie's sobbed rocked her slender form violently, Wolfram kicked himself mentally for letting his mother cry like there was no tomorrow. He longed to reach out to her, to console her, to tell her that he wasn't angry anymore, to tell her that he loved her. But his mind was not in control of his body anymore. He couldn't move.

"You have every right to be mad at me. What kind of mother would put her child through that? I will understand if you hate me, if you refused to call me Mother anymore. There's nothing in this world that could atone for what I have done. But know this, my beautiful Wolf, even though you hate me and despise me, I will always love you," Chérie pulled back the blanket a little to reveal her son's golden hair. Bending down a little bit, she kissed that hair long, before finally walking away.

Inside, Wolfram wept with his mother.

****

"So, did you talk to Mother?" Gwendal asked his brother. Conrart, who was busy reading reports from the border, glanced up.

"No. I couldn't find her. I heard she arrived around ten o'clock last night but before I could greet her, she was already gone. How about you?" the brunette turned his body around to face his brother.

"I couldn't find her either. Where did she go?"

"I don't know but I have a hunch where she might've been. Talking about Mother, when is the meeting again? And will Wolfram came?" Conrart inquired.

"In another ten minutes. Seriously, I don't know whether Wolfram will come or not but I'm praying he will," Gwendal continued his assessment on the paperwork in front of him. This time it was a petition to build a fountain in honor of the Maou. _'I guess this one has to go through Yuuri,_' he thought, putting the paper on top of a pile on his right, the pile for the beloved Maou, and it kept on growing and growing, much to Gwendal's delight and much to the young king's annoyance.

Günter, who was oblivious to the brother's conversation, suddenly stood up. "Lady Chérie, welcome home," the advisor greeted the former Maou as soon as she step foot into her eldest son's office. Both sons looked up the moment her name was mentioned.

"Thank you, Günter. Although I can't say it is great to be home," she lamented. "Hello, Gwendal. Hello, Conrart."

The two brothers looked at each other before answering to their mother's greeting. "Hello, Mother," they piped out simultaneously.

Without being invited, Chérie rested her bottom on one of Gwendal's soft sofa. Sighing, she buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," was all she muttered before breaking into uncontrollable sobs once again.

"Mother?" Conrart swiftly went to his mother's side. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, hands on Chérie's shoulder.

"Does it matter?" she moaned. More tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I gather you went and met with Wolfram last night?" Gwendal probed. He stood up and walked towards his family.

"Went? Yes. Met? No. He was asleep."

"Mother, you do know that you have to do some answering in a few minutes, right?" Chérie nodded weakly. "And you do realize that there is a possibility that Wolfram will get angry at you, right?" Chérie nodded again. "Are you sure you want to do this today, Mother? I mean, you just got home and probably tired. We can do this another time after you have plenty of rest. This kind of thing can be pretty intimidating."

Chérie looked at her son sadly. "And put this off for how long, Gwen dear? If I were to feel Wolfram's wrath, might as well be now. Why postpone the inevitable?"

Gwendal fell silent. He understood his mother's feeling. Wolfram could be quite cruel when he was hurt. Just look at what he did to Conrart right after he knew his Little Big Brother was a 'filthy half-breed', as he 'kindly' put it. He suspected his mother would receive similar treatment or maybe even worse than Conrart from his temperamental brother. "As you wish, Mother," he finally relented, leaving Chérie on the chair wiping her eyes and trying to appear decent after a whole night of sleep deprivation.

Not long after, one by one the invited and the uninvited guests paraded into the room. Yuuri arrived first, looking forcefully cheerful; a fake smile plastered his face. "Chérie-sama, how was your Free Love cruise?" he chirped then went to sit beside her, grasping her hand as if to lend his support. Murata, as usual arrived with Shinou perched on his shoulder like a handsome parrot. Lastly, the uninvited guest, Annissina, greeted by Gwendal's glare, sat herself besides Chérie's other side. Only the last player remained unseen.

Just as Gwendal about to give order to have the door shut, Wolfram finally arrived, helped by Abe, one of his trusted subordinates. Gisela was behind them, protesting nonstop about why Wolfram should be in bed and not here raking his brain out on the 'how, why, when, what, who and where' of the recent events. Wolfram just smiled at her before giving her a choice of staying there to monitor or trust his brothers to take good care of him. The green-haired healer sighed dejectedly before turning on her heels and walked away, knowing it would be an insult to the older brothers if she stayed there, implying that she didn't trust them. Wolfram grinned triumphantly at his success and entered the room. His eyes caught his mother's and they stayed there for a while.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the blonde released his mother's eyes, greeted her politely, "Hello, Mother. I trust you have a pleasant journey home?" before sitting beside Gwendal.

"Ye–Yes. I did," Chérie stammered, apparently surprised by Wolfram's politeness. Truth be told, she was kind of expecting some nasty accusations from her youngest son. _'Did I underestimate him?'_

Shinou jumped down from Murata's shoulder and went to Wolfram's side. Jumping to the golden-haired prince's shoulder, he whispered conspiratorially, "I take it you've thought about what I said yesterday?" Wolfram just shrugged casually.

"Alright, my Sage, if you can be kind as to continue your reading…." Shinou turned to address Murata.

There were murmurs everywhere. "I thought Lady von Spitzberg is supposed to explain about that incident?" Annissina asked confusedly. Her face was mirrored by almost everyone in the room except Murata, who had this mysterious gleamed on his glasses.

"It's alright. There will be time for that later on. Daikenja, if you please," Shinou asked the Great Sage to start reading.

"As you wish," Murata cleared his voice and opened the book that shared the same room with him last night. "This agenda was written after Wolfram was kidnapped."

_Agenda 542_

_Yesterday was the most unfortunate day of my life. I had to use my last ounce of energy and everything I've ever learned to escape from the Shin Makoku's force. The invisibility spell was a huge success although I have to say, the toll it took on me was huge too. Anyway, when I saw the actual ritual being conducted, something clicked in my mind. What have I done? The moment Corintha picked up the knife and held it over the infant, my heart ached with him. I could see his terrified eyes even though I doubt he could fully understand the fear. My legs itched to run to him, to save him, to bring him back to his mother. At that moment I understood this virus called revenge. This virus that spread easily but so hard to contain. A virus that could destroy a whole country or a whole civilization. While it's true I hated his mother, my hatred towards Cecilie had nothing to do with this child. I decided to save him then. I released him from under my spell, allowing him to breath on his own, not controlled like a doll, allowing him to move, allowing him to reject the foul ritual. And more importantly, allowing him to retrieve his soul._

Chérie wept. So, this was the woman who had caused her much heartache but was also the one who gave her back her precious son. Silently, she prayed for Ealya's deliverance from whatever wrong she had committed in her life.

Murata saw the look on Chérie's face but chose to ignore it. In fact, everybody present in the room saw it but decided to follow suit. Clearing his throat, the wise sage started reading again.

_Agenda 543_

_After much consideration, I decided to stay by Corintha's side for a while. Not to seek revenge, but to do some research on her, to find a way to annihilate her once and for all. At this moment, that's the only thing that I can do. I can never seek forgiveness for what I had done from all the people that I helped killed. The screams of anguish, the smell of burning flesh; that's part of my life now. Those were the first thing I remember when I wake up and the last thing I think of when I go to sleep. My night's are filled with nightmares; nightmares even worse than when Corintha killed my family. The only peace I could possibly get from this is the fact that maybe my research will aid the downfall of that monster. If not….. I rather not think about it._

"Is there actually a research? Did she manage to do it? Or did she die before she succeeds? If she did it, will it work?" Murata hadn't even gotten the opportunity to take a breath before Günter bombarded him with questions after questions.

"The answer to all of that; you'll know when I know," was Murata's reply before his fingers flipped the page of the book. "Shall I continue or do you still feel the need to question me non-stop, Lord von Christ?" He asked the advisor who was sitting restlessly on his seat like his rear was on fire or something. _'Trust Günter to be overdramatic in time like this.'_

Günter hung his head. "No, of course not."

"Alright, then. Moving on to Agenda 544."

_Agenda 544_

_I know one important fact about Corintha. Her mind-control ability comes with a high price. It turns out that linking your mind to others to force them to do your bidding will expose yours. But when I asked that ape Gerhart whether he catches glimpses of Corintha's mind in his, he said no. So, my hypotheses are:_

_i- Linking your mind to others is like a busy highway. There is come and there is go. It's not a one way road._

_ii- In order to access the mind that is controlling you, you have to have a well-developed brain, meaning you have to possess a certain level of intelligence (explains why that ape couldn't; he's the perfect example of all brawns and no brain, literally)._

_iii- There is a strong possibility that the other person will notice if someone is probing their mind (like I did when Corintha was accessing mine. It felt like she was poking her fingers at my brain)._

_So, based on hypothesis iii, there is almost a __99% that Corintha will find out if I were to probe her mind. But how long do I have before she notices? I don't know. I just can hope that it will be enough to record it. There is only one thing I know for sure and that is this will be a suicide mission. Starting the countdown to doom._

"So, Lords von Voltaire and von Christ, does that answer your curiosity on how they'd escaped?" Shinou inquired. "It appears that this Ealya was quite a powerful MahouTsukai."

"MahouTsukai? What's that?" Yuuri never intended for that question to be vocalized that loud but it did. Wolfram stabbed him with a deadly look. Conrart chuckled at the look his brother was giving his godson.

"MahouTsukai is a witch, Heika," he answered, suppressing his giggles at Yuuri's face. He felt bad for laughing at this gloomy time but he couldn't help it. Yuuri, even as a young adult, was totally clueless.

"I bet that was one of the reasons why Corintha accepted Ealya as her servant. Just imagine a witch by your side," Gwendal blurted out. _'A witch kidnapped my brother. No wonder nobody noticed anything was amiss.'_

"What is so great about having a witch as an assistant? They're limited to doing spells, right? Even normal Mazoku can do magic, right, like Wolfram and Gwendal? It's not a big deal, if you ask me," Yuuri, in his usual clueless self, said without even thinking. The rest of them looked at him as if he had just said 'Shinou is a cruel prankster who deserves to be tied up before being dumped into the sea.'

"That's why nobody asked you, Shibuya," Murata told the young king before turning his attention to Günter. "Did you purposely skip the lesson on witches, Lord von Christ or our king as usual blocked the lesson he found uninteresting?"

Günter, not wanting to tarnish his beloved Maou's image in front of the rest, mumbled an incoherent answer. "I ……mistake …..Heika ……good ……student."

"We're not on Earth, Shibuya. Don't liken their magic to the Earthlings. Here, Mazokus and certain half-Mazokus such as yourself can perform magic according to their own elements. For example, Lord von Bielefeld can control the fire since that is his element. MahouTsukai or witch, on the other hand can control all elements. Their magic is free-elemental magic," Murata explained not too kindly to the naïve king. "The spells that they perform, cannot be done by common people like us. We don't have the blood to do it. And the spells that they can do are limitless. They can do almost anything, well, except raising the dead and a few other things that are exclusive to the Big Guy upstairs," Murata finished his explanation with a well deserved sigh. He wondered what did he done wrong in his previous lives to be babysitting a trickster and a naïve like Shinou and Yuuri.

"But I saw Shinou did things as awesome as the things you've described," Yuuri, didn't want to appear pathetic, complained.

"That's because he IS a MahouTsukai," Murata said, exasperated. He walked across the room to where Yuuri was sitting and whispered in the young king's ears, "Do us a favor, Shibuya. Please think first before you speak or people will think of you as an insufferable idiot. That in turn, will make our country look bad." Yuuri's face reddened.

Shinou meanwhile, didn't pay much attention to Murata and Yuuri. Instead, he fixed his gaze at the pale-looking ex-Maou beside Yuuri. "Well now, since it looks like Murata is busy re-educating the Maou, how about we hear the explanation from you, Lady von Spitzberg. What really did happen in Vandery 150 years ago?"

All eyes were on Chérie.

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A/N: Thanks to **nickypooh**, **turnersyndrome**, **Balance-The-Moon-And-Stars** and **CARohanne** for the reviews. I had fun reading them. This chapter is dedicated to you guys. Your support forced my muse to come out of temporary retirement. Thanks CARohanne for the title suggestion. Stay tuned for the next chapter: **The Astonishing Truth**.

P/S: For those who don't understand about anything, feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer them.

P/S②: I noticed when I was reading back my story that I had managed to make Yuuri look like a total douche bag especially in this chapter. Sorry to all Yuuri lovers out there. I'll make it up to you guys, I promised.


	10. The Astonishing Truth

Another update, a little bit short though but an update anyway. Yes…I'm more than halfway finished. Originally, I intended for this fic to be about 15 chapters long. So if my muse decides to stay on path, then another 5 chapters to go.

Disclaimer: If there was a tear in the space fabric and KKM was mine, they would be more heartbreaks (as sadistic as I am). Alas, it's not.

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Chapter 9 – The Astonishing Truth

Chérie stiffened at the question. The moment she dreaded had finally come. She cast an upward look as if praying. Silence reigned. Wolfram looked at his mother hard, trying to comprehend the woman who gave birth to him. What was going on in his mother's mind? What explanation was she going to give? Truthfully, the former fiancé of the Maou was scared to hear what his mother had to say. Afraid that she was doing it out of pure selfish reasons. He wasn't sure that his heart could handle anymore heartache. _'Speaking of heartache, I haven't felt any for quite some time. Gisela really is a genius,'_ he thought rather cheerfully.

After a few minutes of self-reflection on her part, Chérie finally spoke, voice as soft as whispering wind, "Vandery wasn't an accident as you all knew already. It was retaliation." Then she fell silent again.

"For what, Lady von Spitzberg?" Murata asked quite impatiently. They need to resolve this as soon as possible. There was no time to waste. If what Shinou suspected was true, then they have much lesser time than they had initially thought.

Chérie looked sadly at Murata then to her three sons. How she wished she could shield them from mortal pain. But, no matter how much she tried to spare them, eventually they would get hurt. That was the rule of the world. She inhaled as deep as she could before answering the question, "For my refusal to aid her, to aid Corintha."

"What?!" That was practically a synchronize scream.

"Don't tell me you used to be a candidate for her life-sustenance ritual?" Günter asked the blonde woman, surprised at the revelation.

Chérie just nodded. It seemed that since yesterday, that was the only thing she knew how to do best.

"Naru hodou. It seems that what Ealya said in the book was true. Corintha was seeking someone with power. And if you say power, who is high on that list?" Murata asked his avid listeners.

"The Maou!" Yuuri exclaimed loudly, his voice made Wolfram cringed.

"But why did she settle for Wolfram 88 years ago?" Günter asked what seemed like a valid question but that only made Wolfram crankier.

"Well, sorry for not being a powerful person," he sulked.

Conrart tried to calm the blond prince. "That's not what Günter meant. You are a powerful Fire Mazoku. In fact the strongest I've ever known. But at that time you were just a mere baby."

Günter nodded. "My point exactly. She could choose, right, whom to sacrifice? I mean, selecting Wolfram was Ealya's idea of revenge."

"She could. But remember that Wolfram is Chérie's son. He carries inside him the same blood that flows within her. I bet Corintha, as powerful as she was, could tell that Wolfram is somehow connected to her." Shinou said, sharing his two cents worth.

"But how did you manage to escape from her? Ealya never said about anyone surviving Corintha," Yuuri questioned her predecessor who by the minute was looking worse and worse.

"I guess you have to tell the story from the very beginning, Lady von Spitzberg," Murata felt sorry for the former Maou for telling her to do that. What he asked her to do was obliviously painful to her, relieving what probably could be one of her worst memories.

Chérie once more nodded. "She came to me one night…."

* * *

The storm that was supposed to hit Shin Makoku early in the morning finally came late that evening. The rain that came pelting at the windows sounded like pebbles being thrown. Despite the late hour, Chérie was still up trying to finish the paperwork on her table. Just a few minutes ago, her young son's nanny had come telling her that Gwendal wasn't feeling well. She was dying to go to his side but her brother insisted that the paper needed to be finished by tonight. Left with no choice, she could only instruct the orange-haired woman to consult the healer Lilya.

The rain was hitting the windows harder. The air was getting colder. _'Weird, I thought I asked the maid to keep the fire burning,'_ Chérie rubbed her hands together. As she was about to get up to feed the fire with the woods at the end of the room, all the candles went out suddenly.

"Ek?" Chérie stumbled as the last of the light faded. Only the flashes of lightning illuminated the room occasionally. In her panic state, she slapped the bottle of ink off the table but the sound of it breaking against the floor didn't come. "What–?" She whispered softly and started looking around.

Outside, the last lightning could still be seen, dividing the black sky into two. The rain had stopped smashing the window. The trees outside were bending at an awkward angle. The leaves were floating mid air, as if the law of gravity did not exist at all. In short, time had stopped flowing.

"What is happening?" Chérie thought aloud, knowing too well that nobody would answer her. Why was she the only one who could move when the world outside had ceased its flow? The eerie silence crept on her. The Maou tried to find something to defend herself if this situation turned to the worst. Moving forward, she groped in the dark, certain that a poker was lying somewhere on the floor. "Let's see…where are you, poker-san?"

Her right hand found something. But it wasn't the cold feel of steel. It was something soft, like a fabric. Chérie moved her hands upward. 'Ankle?' Chérie was confused. She moved her hands higher. 'Long legs?' She sucked her breath.

"How long do you plan to feel me up, Maou Heika?" A mesmerizing voice suddenly spoke up, sounding like a lullaby, making Chérie a little bit entranced by it.

Corintha smiled wickedly. For sure this Maou would fall into her hands too. Her voice was her asset. If she willed it, everyone who heard it would fall into her control. And after a thousand years of success, she had no reason to believe otherwise. It had always worked for her.

The female Maou looked up and with a little help from the stationary lightning, she could make out the thing she was groping. Standing at almost 6 feet tall, she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. With her titian-red hair flowing behind her even though there was no wind blowing, she looked intimidating. There was something menacing about her eyes that made Chérie uneasy. Surely, this heavenly being in front of her didn't come here to flaunt her ability to stop time, did she?

"You're right, Cecilie. I'm not here just to say hello and show you my power. I'm here for something more important," Corintha smiled again.

Chérie was glued to the spot. "How did you know my name? Do I know you?"

"No. But I do know you. A few thousands years ago, I came to your great-great-great grandmother asking her for the same thing I'm about to ask you. But boy, did she put up a fierce fight. Eventually, I had to kill her AND her whole family. Well, I could only kill her, but the way she treated me when I only asked so nicely just got to my nerve and I decided to slaughter everyone in the house even the maid," Corintha snickered at Chérie's obvious shock. "You might want to remember my name, Corintha."

"You–"

"It's a pity one escaped but I had fun killing your family," Corintha laughed evilly, taunting the Maou in front of her. Chérie's face was red from anger. "And you probably didn't know, but this form I'm wearing right now...it's your great-great-great grandmother's. She sure was a beautiful woman."

"What did you want from her? What did you take from her?" Chérie gritted her teeth. Somehow, she needed to know the truth why her family was killed.

"Hmm…the usual thing. Wanted her soul to bargain for mine and then borrowing her form. You know, after thousands of years, my form wasn't up-to-date anymore. Needed to find a new one."

Chérie gasped. Thousands of years? Did this woman in front of her managed to live for thousands of years? That's impossible. There's no spell in this world that could grant eternal life. Immortality was not for the human nor Mazoku to taste. Even Shinou died.

"Yes, I know. A pity, isn't it? He was such a handsome man, and very powerful too. It was unfortunate for him that I wasn't in need of any assistance at that time. You, on the other hand, my lady, are in luck. My clock is ticking and I need you, the Maou, to assist me in my quest to quench my thirst," Corintha eyes locked with the stunned blonde. Without waiting for any reply or permission, she moved towards the trembling woman in front of her.

Chérie panicked. _'What is this? If I'm dreaming, please Shinou, wake me up.'_ She needed to buy some time. She needed to come up with a plan. But her mind chose to shut down at that precise moment. Chérie was near hysterical. '_Only one thing to do. Engage her with a conversation'_, she thought warily.

"Luck? What do you mean by that? What could you possibly offer me if I agree to assist you?" She croaked weakly. Chérie was praying earnestly for some help but deep down inside she knew, she was the only person who was still in that time fabric.

Corintha smiled, revealing rows of even, gleaming, white teeth. "Oh, you know. Limitless power surpassing even Shinou. You can enjoy it for some time. And when the time arrives, I'll come and collect your soul. Kinda like making a deal the devil," she explained patiently. After that fiasco with Catriona von Thiessen, she had learned how to keep her cool and hold her tongue to avoid any inconvenience to herself. With each word she uttered, Corintha moved closer and closer to the Maou.

"So, how long do I have?" The blonde moved backward as Corintha inched closer.

"Hm, let's see. I still have about 25 years from the last harvest so I'll give you 20 years. How does that sound?"

"I'll think about that. Although I have to say 25 years is not long enough for a Mazoku." Chérie back met with the wall behind her. _'Oh, Shinou,'_ she whimpered softly.

Corintha closed in. Her outstretched hands were ready to stroke Chérie's pale cheeks. "We can discuss about that later. What I need from you is your consent," she muttered, eyes half-closed from the leaks of power in front of her. Corintha leaned forward, Chérie closed her eyes, and….

"What?!" Corintha screamed. Rubbing her aching palm against the other, she looked flabbergasted. _'What did just happen?'_

Chérie opened her eyes. Corintha was standing so close to her but seemed to have difficulties closing the gap between them. The Maou took the chance to gather her skirt and moved to the other end of the room.

"You–? What've you done?" Corintha turned towards the scared woman.

Chérie turned around to face her. She, too, was confused with what was happening. "I–I–I've done nothing. I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Liar!" Corintha screeched. "You and your great-great-great grandmother are in fact of the same blood." She ran towards the Maou, trying to strangle her with pointy fingers. "You have no idea what you're dealing with. Like I did your ancestors, when I get my hands on you, I'll make you regret you ever opposed me."

Chérie tried to summon any majutsu known to her but it seemed like her power was drained. "Please, I really don't know what you're talking about. It wasn't me, whatever it was," Chérie pleaded desperately. In her mind at this moment was her young son crying over her grave, just like she did years ago over her parents' graves who were killed in the skirmish outside their land. Then suddenly she remembered the promise she made to herself, to never let her children knew what kind of pain it was to lose a parent and that in turn, lent her strength to fight whatever monstrosity looming in front of her at this moment.

"Maou or no Maou, I'll rip your throat out after I sucked your soul, leaving only bits of it so that you'll feel the pain. Then I'll decorate this place with you innards and I'll paint the wall red, with your blood. After I'm finished with you, I'll force your son to see what her mother had become and then I'll kill him, savoring his screams of pain before killing everybody in here," Corintha screamed like a demented woman. Her face was no longer of Catriona's, but rather a reminiscence of what she used to look like.

At the mention of her son, Chérie was beyond anger. Just now she had managed to snatch the poker she was so desperately seeking. Brandishing the steel in front of her like a sword, she yelled, "Who are you to kill my son? And who are you to determine my life and death and what my life should be like?"

Corintha looked hard at the curvaceous woman in front of her. "Oh, acting brave now, are we? You don't know who are dealing with, little miss," she grumbled, jeering at the Maou. By this time, she was no longer appearing human. With eyes as red as blood, fangs adorning her blacken mouth, she looked like a nightmare came true. By the seconds, Corintha was losing her human appearance and becoming more and more like herself. "You're going to regret this, dear Maou."

Corintha lunged at Chérie, crying words that the blonde had never heard of in her life. Evading Corintha's attack, Chérie quickly repositioned herself behind the raging monster. Hands still clutching the poker, she stabbed Corintha, aiming at her back but just as her son found out years later, it didn't make any mark at all on her. Mad at Chérie for her sudden attack, Corintha turned around to face her 'dirty' attacker. Summoning a fire on her open palm, the lunatic being created a ring of fire encircling the both of them. This way, there was no way out for her intended victim. Her pristine gown billowed madly behind her, as if a hurricane was raging inside the room.

"This is just like a rewind of the past, you know. I remember creating a ring of fire to stop your ancestor from escaping. It's like trapping a fish inside a net. There's no way out. You'll die whether you submit to me or not. So, what shall it be? Die now or watch your son grow up and maybe have another child and die 25 years later? Your choice, Maou," Corintha spat the last word out, smiling dementedly.

Chérie fell silent. If she submitted herself to her willingly, it was as if she was betraying her country. She would put Shin Makoku in jeopardy if she helped her, allowing her to kill as she please just like she killed her family. So submitting herself wasn't an option at all. But if she let Corintha killed her, it was the same as submitting herself willingly. Corintha would just use her soul as she liked to and in the end the people of Shin Makoku would have to suffer. '_In another word, DYING is not an option. What should I do? Please, Shinou, help me.'_ Instead, she replied, "Kiss my ass, you asshole."

"Wrong things to say, my precious little life charger." Corintha flew at Chérie at lightning speed. Unable to see her and to parry her attack, Chérie just closed her eyes praying for some sort of miracle; a miracle to save her and to save Shin Makoku.

But nothing came.

Slowly opening her eyes, Chérie saw Corintha writhing on the floor, whimpering, "What spell are you using, you little bitch? Why can't I touch you?"

Chérie, upon seeing Corintha's condition, found some courage and started touching the fallen being. With each touch, Corintha screamed like her soul was being ripped from her body mercilessly. "Stop! Stop, you filthy mortal!"

Chérie didn't stop, instead she frequented her touching, making the woman on the floor screamed as loud as she could. It was odd. She never knew she had that power over Corintha. Touching and watching her writhe like that, however, only made her feel worse. It was as if she was watching her ancestors writhing in their last moment in this world. Finally, she stopped.

Corintha was breathing hard. She had never experience pain like that in her life or afterlife. _'It was more painful than….'_ she moaned. Trying to get up, she looked hatefully at her untouchable victim. Chérie was looking at her with tears in her eyes.

With choked voice, Chérie said to the thing in front of her, "I won't kill you, not with my hands anyway. But I have to bring you to justice and have you on trial after all you've done. Let the punishment be of the people decision."

Corintha looked as if Chérie had just slapped her, "You're kidding right? Do you think I would submit myself to all these mortal things? You cannot stop me, Maou. And I'll have my revenge on you. You just have to wait and see." With those last words, Corintha vanished. The ring of fire also disappeared, not even a scratched on the smooth floor. Suddenly, the sound of the rain pelting the window could once more be heard.

* * *

"That was what happened that night. A few days after, I heard the news of Vandery's fire and a survivor claiming it was all my fault. When asked, the girl said the one who did it told everybody before burning the village. I guess, that girl was Ealya," Chérie finished her story with a long, melancholic sigh.

"Why couldn't Corintha harm Mother?" Conrart questioned the thing that was on everybody's mind except two.

Murata looked at Shinou. Shinou rolled his eyes. He hated being told by Murata although technically Murata just had to look at him. "Fine. It was me. Well, not exactly me. It was my power."

When nobody looked as if they understand, the blonde dead king snorted. "Remember the task to become the Maou?"

"The one where you stick your hand in the waterfall?" Yuuri enquired.

"Yes. Actually it was for me to bestow my protection on the ruling Maou. So, when Chérie was attacked, my protection was automatically activated. While my power wasn't enough to kill her, it managed to repel her attack thus saving her life." Shinou explained.

"But how come you asked her about what was happening when you were the one who were protecting Lady Chérie?" Günter asked confusedly.

"You understood me wrongly. I didn't say I was protecting her, I said my power was."

"What different does it make? It was your power, right?" Gwendal scratched his head innocently. Seriously, what different did it make?

"Imagine going to the beach and bring back some of the sand home. Every time you touch the sand, you can remember what it was like to be at the beach but you're not really there."

Silence.

"And??"

Murata snorted. Shinou was never good with analogies. "What my good old dead king here wants to say is the protection bestowed on every Maou was a residue of Shinou's power. It was like when you cut your hair. You don't know what happen to the hair after it was cut, but it still exists somewhere and it is still hair unless something changes it. The cut hair is Shinou's power. After the power was being transferred to the ruling Maou, Shinou didn't know what happened to it. But it still protects the bearer from harm. Understood?"

"Oooo…"

Wolfram looked at his mother. He never thought that all his mother was thinking of was for the safety of Shin Makoku. He was proud of his mother for fighting till the end.

"Alright, it was an interesting interlude. Made us understand a bit about Corintha and why Ealya wanted to exact revenge. In a way, we have to be thankful to Lady Chérie for not submitting easily because if she did, none of us would be here."

"Eh?" Confused groans could be heard.

"She is the mother to the keys' bearers. Without her, the keys would be scattered all over and the plan that I concocted for 4000 years would fail. And Shoushu would….you know what I mean. And without her, Ealya wouldn't have had a reason to conduct the research needed to kill Corintha." Shinou explained, all the while smiling at Wolfram_. 'Are you still mad at her?'_ His eyes seemed to be saying.

"Alright, then. Time for Ealya's research to be read. Any objection?" Murata asked before opening the book. Not that he cared if there was any objection.

"No." Everyone seemed eager to know about the research. The sooner they killed the 'asshole', as Chérie called her, the better for all of them.

"Alright, then. The research starts with properties for each element…."

****

A/N: Thanks to **nickypooh**, **turnersyndrome**, **CARohanne **and** AnnBelle von Hygl** for the reviews. Your reviews were like pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. Starting from tomorrow however, I'll start working so there might be no update for some time (wish me luck. My boss is Japanese). But I'll try my best to update as soon as I can. Next chapter: **The Letting Go**. Please keep tuning in to this rambling fic. And don't forget to review, minnasan….

P/S: For those who are still scratching their heads on the sticking hand in the waterfall thingy, it was in Episode 3 at 21:31.


	11. The Letting Go

Since I'm on holiday from the 31st to the 4th January, I figured I might as well use the time to update. Who knows when I will be able to do this again? Warning though. This chapter is quite boring (for me, at least. I yawned a lot while I was writing this) because it is full of Ealya's research. But, I do hope you'll enjoy it. And Happy New Year…Akemashite Omedetou…

Important P/S at the bottom. Please refer to it.

Disclaimer: KKM will never be mine…nor will Wolfram…*sobbing crazily*

* * *

Chapter 10: The Letting Go

Murata cleared his throat before launching into a monotonous reading. Shinou already yawned lazily. _'Research always made me sleepy,'_ he thought drowsily, hands on his knees, supporting his chin. True to his words, seconds later he was no longer mentally among the audience. _'Not that I don't know about the elements,'_ was his last thought.

_Understanding the Elements_

_Each element has its own properties. That's what contributes to its diversity. For example, what makes fire weak against water? In understanding more about the elements, one can actually find the relations between the elements and possibly create some sort of scenarios on how to strengthen or weaken the elements. _

Wolfram struggled to stifle his acidic retort. Why did the Know-It-All Sage choose to read what seemed like a torturous explanation with that flat voice of his? In front of him, Conrart also shared the same sentiment as his brother.

_Air_

_Air is the element of freedom. Air can detach itself from the worldly concerns and thus finding peace and liberty. The component of air is miniscule and smooth that one can barely feel its movement, making it a stealth element. Air is also well-known for its mobility, sharpness and ability to penetrate. Air is also the basis to all energy transfer reaction, making it a particularly dominant element. Air Mazoku is often described as an achieving, intelligent, intellectual and helpful person. On the other side, they are also superficial, impractical and very insensitive to other's people emotion. Air is an active element._

"Huh?" every pair of eyes went to Günter.

"Hmm, it's true about him being intelligent, but I don't see the helpful part. He always did the opposite when I asked him to help me with my research. None of you are, be it Air, Fire, Earth or Water," Annissina bluntly pointed out.

"I am always helpful, just not to you," Günter retorted, trying to defend himself in the presence of his most cherished Maou.

Gwendal first thought was, _'Even the most helpful person would run the opposite direction when he sees your shadow, Annissina.'_

Murata just ignored the remarks being exchanged and continue reading. His curiosity took over him. On his left, Shinou had already entered The Land of Slumber although Murata doubt he was really asleep. Could spirit really do that?

_Earth_

_Earth is the element of stability. It represents the solid state of matters. Earth is diverse and strong, persistent and enduring. Although earth is often described as easy to crumble and break when picked up, in stark difference of the smooth flow of air, it is considered stable, making it an unyielding element. Earth Mazoku tends to be calm, practical, hardworking, stable, patient and artistic; however they can also be stubborn, possessive, and very harsh. Earth is a passive element._

Stifled laughter could be heard everywhere. Gwendal? Artistic ability?

"I think Gwendal and artistic can never be in the same column," Annissina said, suppressing her giggle as best as she could. Chérie just smiled wanly at her son.

"What do you mean by that? I DO have artistic ability. What about all the knitted animals I did?" Gwendal heated up when he heard Annissina's thought.

"Well, you once gave me a cat key-chain that looked like a raccoon," Yuuri added, glancing at Gwendal. "I still can't see any resemblance to a cat."

Gwendal gritted his teeth. How dare they make fun of his cute stuff animals? He had to do something about this obvious insult. _'Ah-ha. I got one.'_"Heika, please have all the documents signed by tonight. I already put stacks of them on your table," he said, indignantly. _'Retaliation is sweet.'_

"What??!!" Surprise from Yuuri, laughter from the rest.

Murata only rolled his eyes before continuing his reading.

_Water_

_Water is the element of wisdom. Water is always changing and adapting to various things. Water is not restricted by any form, allowing it to flow freely and smoothly and thus experiencing everything in its path although not as free as air. In contrast to earth, water is a substance without stability. Also, water is often called the element of healing. Water Mazoku is an emotional, deep, nurturing, sympathetic and empathetic person. But they can also be sentimental, over-sensitive, escapist and irrational at times. Water Mazoku often let their defense become their offense. Water is a passive element._

"That sympathetic view of yours is what really irks me sometimes," Wolfram muttered under his breath. Yuuri heard him and turned around to face the blond.

"What did you just say?" he asked, face quite unbelieving. Wolfram was criticizing him?

"There is a limit to everything, Yuuri. Sometimes I feel that your kindness will one day bring you misery. Ah, I forgot. That day already came. Remember what Saralegui did to you?" Wolfram answered, his face still ashen from his ordeal.

Yuuri grew quiet. As much as he liked to disagree with Wolfram, he knew what the blond said held some truth in it. He was too kind and too easily sympathized with others' predicament. But, how can he change that?

"And that escapist part, really suits you, you know," Wolfram continued. "Every time you felt that I was suffocating you, you took the easiest route available: escape to Earth." Faintly, so that only Gwendal could hear it, he whispered, "Wimp."

"Can all of you wait till I'm finished reading before arguing whether what was said about you is true?" Murata suddenly said hotly. "I'm trying to concentrate. I've read the same sentence four times already."

"Sorry," came various muttering of apologizes. Murata just shook his head. He just wanted to finish reading about these elements quickly. He couldn't wait to get into the good part; how to kill the killer.

_Fire_

_Fire is the element of power. Fire is commonly associated with the qualities of energy, assertiveness and passion. While fire can be seen as the source of life, if misuse, it can be very destructive. It also represents courage and defense. Fire is also an intense element. Fire Mazoku is often extroverted, rebellious, passionate and enthusiastic. However, on the downside, they can be moody, hot-tempered, uncontrollable and angry. Fire Mazoku have desire and will and the drive and energy to achieve what they want thus is an active element. _

"Bulls eye," Yuuri said, feeling triumphant when Murata finished reading. Wolfram shot him a deadly look. "You really ARE moody and hot-tempered. You are all that."

"Shut up," Wolfram growled his face red from embarrassment. He should've known that Yuuri would never let him of after what he had said.

"Heika's right, Wolfram. You are all that. But now that I know your element attributes to your personality, I feel relieved," Gwendal told the blond prince beside him.

"And why is that?" Wolfram looked at his brother with squinted eyes.

"At least I know it isn't hereditary."

"Humph."

Murata flipped the pages of the book, oblivious to all the noise around him. His mind was solely on the book and its content. His intellect was dying to find out more about Corintha. Murata was so absorbed in his effort to quench his thirst for knowledge that he wasn't aware that the rest of them was staring at him.

"Umm…Geika?" Günter furrowed his brows.

"Yeah?"

"Are you OK, MuraKen?" Yuuri asked the other double black, the look of concern etched across his face.

"Yeah, sure. What is it, Lord von Christ?" Murata turned his attention to the purple-haired advisor.

Günter looked questioningly at the Great Sage. "What's all these have to do with Corintha?"

Every pair of eyes was on Murata, waiting for his clarification. Murata just shrugged. "I don't know. But as Ealya said before, knowing the elements will help to strengthen or weaken them. So I suppose the elements have something to do with Corintha." His eyes reverted back to the books. "Now will you let me finish reading this book so that we can do something about this whole situation?"

Everybody had no choice but to agree. They too wanted to know what Ealya meant by that.

"Right then. On to the next stage of the research, shall we?"

_As the above mentioned, the properties of each element determined what sort of personalities the wielder will probably have. And then, there is the characterization of each element. Air is primarily wet and secondarily hot. Fire is primarily hot and secondarily dry. Earth is primarily dry and secondarily cold and water is primarily cold and secondarily wet. So based on this characterization, air is the opposite of earth and water if the opposite of fire. Using this knowledge, I already deduced a way to kill Corintha. _

Murata swallowed his saliva. _'Finally,'_ was the only thing that he thought of at the moment. Clearing his throat, he carried on with his reading.

But when he started to read, he was severely disappointed. _'What?'_ his mind screamed. Reluctantly, he explained to the startled audience that the next entry was not about the way to kill Corintha, but instead the detailed account of what kind of rituals needed to extend one's life.

'_She should've gone into a writing class. It would help her understand that the flow of story is important to keep the audiences intrigue,'_ Günter couldn't help himself from thinking such remarks. He was afterall an academic and he knew well what to expect from a book_. 'But I guess, knowing that you're going to die soon isn't helping much.' _

_But in order to apprehend this method, we have to first understand the rituals Corintha used to make herself immortal. There are two main rituals involved; the initiation ritual and the sustenance ritual. While the initiation ritual, as the name indicates, is done once, the sustenance ritual has to be done in 1 to 1000 years increment depending on the power of the sacrifice and the type of the ritual._

_The Initiation Ritual_

_I still don't know anything about this ritual. It seemed that every time I tried to access that memory, there was this barrier that was preventing me from doing that. I wonder why._

_The Sustenance Ritual_

_As far as I can tell, there are two types of sustenance rituals. The long term ritual requires only one major sacrifice and far longer preparations and more complicated spells, for example, the Maou's son's incident whilst the short term ritual requires almost no spell except when sucking the souls but needs a huge number of victims such as the Vandery's incident. _

_The long term ritual requires the user to have blood transfusion with the intended source as to control the spirit inside. When the blood transfusion is successful, only then the user will begin the soul transfer. I, for one, had never witnessed any successful transfer but I assume from my journey into her mind that the victim will quickly deteriorate and when the last fragment of soul leaves the body, the victim will turn into dust. This ritual will provide 500 to a thousand years without recharging. _

_The short term ritual, meanwhile, does not require such troublesome steps. The user only has to kill the people and then suck the souls when they leave their respective bodies. A thousand spirits equal to a year without recharging. But, if the user uses a lot of magic spell during that period, the time will be cut short._

Yuuri scratched his head in confusion. "Those are sure some very complicated rituals. I guess that's the price to pay for immortality. But above it all, what actually triggers her desire to be an immortal?" Yuuri voiced his thought, the one that was bothering him from the beginning of the debacle. He was sure that he wasn't the only who was thinking about that.

"I guess we'll never know. Unless you want to go and ask her yourself, Yuuri. Be my guest then," Shinou suddenly sit up straight, stretching his body. A few cracks could be heard, securing himself a few curious looks from the rest of the crowd. "Did I miss anything interesting?" he asked casually.

"No," Murata replied, not having the mood to entertain the troublesome dead king. Instead, he scanned the book for clues on what would be revealed next. _'Hmm, it seems like this next explanation is vital to this research,'_ he mused.

While Murata was mulling over the book and its content, Shinou was having a questioning session with the rest of them, mostly about the things that he missed while he was 'journeying'. "I see," he finally said after the briefing. "So, I guess Cyndwal and Hyreth fall into the short term rituals, eh?"

"I think so too. Meaning that Corintha at this moment might be at her weakest since God knows when. So teaming up with the element of surprise, if we attack her now at her most vulnerable state, that might give us a chance," Gwendal added. He, despite his clear-headed thinking and patience, was itching to draw his sword to kill the one thing that had done nothing but giving his family heartaches after heartaches.

Shinou shook his head. "Not so fast, Lord von Voltaire," he calmed the blue-eyed man. "She might be at her weakest point but there are a lot of things that we don't know about her. Before you charge at her head-on, I advice you think about everything Ealya had kindly accumulated for us. Plus, you don't know where she. Unless you find where she is hiding right now, which I'm sure the spy Yozak will inform us in a few days time, you cannot launch any attack at all," he told the administrator. Years of countless wars had taught him to be cautious when treading unknown territory.

Gwendal fell quiet. Grudgingly, he had to agree to everything The Great One had just said. There was no use attacking when he knew nothing about the enemy. All he would accomplish was to add up the number of casualties. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he faltered.

"Hmm..if that's the case, I think you will like this next entry," Murata said seriously. "Now, I understand why Ealya had bored us with all the elements' talks. They all lead up to this. Listen well."

_The most important thing to remember is, whatever element the user's victim was associated with, the user will inherit that. In short, Corintha is still carrying that brat's element. Fire. Although the transfer was never finished, Corintha did manage to suck a little bit of the infant's soul. I doubt the child ever got everything back. It is made evidence when Corintha started to develop a certain dislike of water. While normal Fire Mazoku can get into contact with water without any consequence, it seems like Corintha was mortally afraid of that element. And for some reason, after what that brat's brother did to her, Corintha seemed unable to do any of the long term ritual._

Silence.

Nobody moved even an inch.

It seemed like the extra lectures on the element had paid out.

Water.

Water was Corintha's weakness.

Pure, unsullied, abundant water.

"That's it? That's the answer? Water?" Wolfram asked rather irritably. He just couldn't believe the answer to all his pain and Shin Makoku's trouble was something ubiquitous, something all of them needed.

Murata too, found it hard to believe. But it all made sense. If what Ealya assumed was true, and Corintha indeed was unable to seek any source, then water was indeed the answer. "I'm afraid that's all, Lord von Bielefeld. That is the last entry; her last sentence being _'I pray that whoever gets this book will find a way to kill that monster for good as I fear this might be my last entry. She had finally realized that I was poking into her mind. I really hope that someone will be able to fulfill my last wish.'_ I guess she was killed soon afterward," Murata said to the blonde prince.

"So, what we have to do now is how to incorporate that knowledge into our plan to kill her," Shinou closed his eyes before continuing, "And that is not an easy task to do. She will take every precaution available to not come into contact with any liquid. And what should we do with the water? Drown her in it? Or do we have to do it on the spiritual level?"

"Meaning?" Annissina had to ask. Her head was swarming with too many unanswered questions, making her quite dizzy.

"Meaning, while water might do some damage to her if applied physically, it might not be enough to kill her. Maybe we have to infuse some sort of water majutsu into her soul, forever damaging it. But I'm just grasping in the dark here. We have to do some experiments first to ascertain it," Shinou explained.

Annissina rose to the occasion. "If I may, Shinou Heika. I still have some of the sample given to me from Cyndwal. I think I might be able to help you confirm things," this was actually the first time that anybody was glad that Annissina was going to conduct an experiment. She even had three willing volunteers. Günter and Gwendal gladly offered themselves to help with the Maryoku's source while Conrart signed himself up to help with the data and such.

Yuuri nodded, agreeing to the arrangement. "Alright, then. I give you at most three days. After three days, I expect results. I wanted this thing destroy as soon as possible." The double black could feel the excitement the other him was experiencing at the prospect of killing the thing. He knew for a fact that his alter ego was unable to rest peacefully ever since that night. That fateful night with Wolfram. _' I never had the time to sort that out and now, Wolfram wants our engagement to end. Arghh….'_

"Well, I guess that's it then. We'll discuss about this matter again after Lady von Kabernikoff has finished with her experiment and has the result. For the time being, please refrain from doing anything stupid as I like all of you to stay alive and kicking for the actual attack," Murata closed the meeting with a stern reminder nobody was listening to.

****

Wolfram once again was standing in front of the entrance to the nameless imposing city and just like before, his presence was felt by no one. It seemed that he wasn't even there. Or maybe he was there, but on a different plane of existence, as a spirit maybe. But this time around, the city lacked the serenity of the previous encounter. There were none of the contented walks, enjoying the scenery. There were none of the genuine smiles plastered on the faces of the inhabitants that passed him by. Instead, everywhere was furor. People were walking around with vengeance written on their faces.

"What's going on?" Wolfram knew no one would answer that question. If he wanted to know, he had to go inside and search for the reason himself. But for some reason, his feet were glued to the ground; the body reacting to the immense fear he was currently experiencing.

While Wolfram was busy telling himself not to be afraid, a white smoke crept up soundlessly behind him. It gathered around the blonde's feet, shuffling around for a while before moving towards his right. The white smoke then started to take the form of a tall female, taller than the prince. All these while, Wolfram didn't even notice that something was amiss until the female figure spoke.

"We meet again, my prince," the female figure said to the astounded young man.

Wolfram, unable to believe his eyes and ears, slapped his face continuously and hardly until he felt numb. But the apparition in front of him wouldn't go away. With ill-concealed trembling voice, Wolfram asked the pretty woman in front of him, "Who are you? You can see me, can't you? Does that mean everyone else can see me as well?"

The mysterious woman chuckled softly, "Yes, brat, I can see you but the rest of them can't because we're neither here nor there. Technically, we don't exist…. well…. at least I don't. You still exist back where your body is," the woman explained kindly, her voice scintillating.

Wolfram was about to say something harsh at the female for calling him 'brat', but the wind chose to blow at that precise moment and Wolfram realized something that he didn't before; the woman's coppery-red tresses.

"Your hair! Your hair… it's… you… you're Ealya?" Wolfram's sucked his breath.

"Well-spotted, little one," Ealya smiled, the most mesmerizing smile Wolfram had ever seen. "Wolfram, I believe, is your name?"

Wolfram nodded dumbly. Was he going crazy? Was this one of the symptoms of heartache-induced lunacy? Was he really going to lose his mind?

"Don't worry. You're not going crazy," the svelte woman said, as if she was reading his mind. "I AM dead."

"But you're here. How is that possible?" Wolfram looked questioningly at his companion.

That question made Ealya a little somber. "I am dead. I'm not really here. This form you're seeing right now is merely an imprint of my old self. I'm a messenger, a sending. The real me is already beyond this secondary realm."

"But how? Why? Wolfram was still baffled. All his fear about what was happening inside the city dissipated and was quickly replaced by this confusion.

"How?" Ealya smiled. "I was a MahouTsukai, I'm sure you know that," she started and Wolfram replied by nodding his head vigorously. "Before Corintha beheaded me, while she was torturing me, I managed to construct a spell no one has ever attempted, I think. I stored a fragment of my magic inside my book that I concealed from Corintha and if something was to happen, it will activate my spell and lend assistance to those who triggers the spell," she stopped, looking closely at the blond. "As I predicted, it was you."

Wolfram was officially beyond confusion. "What is happening to this world? Why don't the usual laws apply? Like, everything must die and the dead stays dead?" He faltered, voice cracking with every word he uttered.

Ealya looked sympathetically at the straw-haired young man in front of her. "I know this is hard for you to take but you have to accept this. Life doesn't always follow the cardinal rules. Things happen. Good and bad. You just have to accept it and I promise you, it will become bearable in time," she patted the blonde's arm lightly.

Wolfram looked at the messenger intently, his emerald eyes searching for any truth bellied inside the depth of the woman's grey eyes. Finally satisfied with whatever he saw, he smiled at the slender woman and asked. "Was it you who called to me when I was here the last time?"

Ealya smiled and nodded.

"Do you have to scream at the top of your lungs?" he asked sheepishly.

Ealya chuckled. "Sorry about that. You were not listening well."

wolfram grinned. "There wasn't time to listen when you're here in this odd place." Then Wolfram looked gravely at the sending, "So what should I do now?"

"I'm afraid you have to go inside, past the threshold to learn about the truth, to learn why Corintha chose to become what she is now. In understanding all that, will you be able to defeat her," Ealya gestured towards the sprawling city opposite them.

Wolfram inquired the carrot-haired woman beside him. "You're coming too, right?"

Ealya shook her head sadly. "No, dear. I'm not. I want to, but I can't. The spell is weakening and I'm afraid I must go."

"But you said, you would lend assistance to those who called you?" Wolfram hated sounding desperate but at this moment, he had no time to think about his pride.

"I did. I told you what to do next, didn't I?" The spirit answered. Then she added, her tone melancholy, "Before I go, I have something to say. Tell you're mother I'm so sorry for the pain I caused her. And I'm sorry for the pain I caused you, Wolfram, and your family. It must've been hell. If I could undo what I'd done, I would."

Wolfram closed his eyes and shook his head weakly. "No, Ealya. You don't have to apologize. I'm sure Mother bears no grudge towards you. You save my life, remember. My family and I are eternally grateful. Thank you," the emerald-eyed young man bowed smartly at his savior. For some undecipherable reason, having said that made him feel a whole lot lighter.

She smiled softly, appreciating the warm gestures. Then she turned around. "Good luck. I'm praying from beyond for your success," was Ealya's parting words before fading into the air.

"For our success," Wolfram whispered. He then turned around to look at the intimidating view ahead. With a newly-acquired courage, he stepped forward into the unknown.

****

Wolfram woke up with a jolt, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Twice he'd woken up with such terror. Outside, the sky was still black and no noise could be heard, indicating the early hour.

In the quietness of his room, Wolfram reflected back on his journey to the past, to the terrifying truth, to the start of it all. Tears rolled down his cheeks, mingling with the cold sweat. _'Why, oh why does it have to be that way?'_ He lamented, burying his face into his heavily-quilted blanket.

After a while, he got out of his bed and walked towards his mahogany desk and pulled out the cushioned chair. After making himself comfortable, he opened his top drawer and retrieved a clean piece of paper. Dipping the quill into the ink, he started writing.

****

A/N: Thanks to **nickypooh**, **turnersyndrome**, **CARohanne** for the reviews. I noticed only you guys reviewed me for the last couple of chapters. Well, with story such as this I couldn't ask for more. Thank you so much for bothering to review at all. Your reviews were the ones that kept me walking the extra mile when my mind said 'Stop'. Next chapter: **The Final Confrontation: The Path I Choose**

P/S: I borrowed various sources for the elements' properties. Wiccan, ancient Greek, even Buddhism. And I'm not sure whether there is an Air element in KKM. But I assume there is and I put Günter as one. If there isn't any, well….just pretend that there is, OK?


	12. Final Confrontation: The Path I Choose

Finally, an update. I still can't believe that I managed to update. *slaps own face* OK…I am not dreaming. Here it is then….presenting the update…. *drumrolls* (Not Beta-ed. Never has)

Disclaimer: Yadda… yadda…yadda… whatever!!

* * *

Chapter 11: The Final Confrontation: The Path I Choose

"It's rare for you to be out and about this early in the morning, Wolfram. What's the occasion?" Conrart asked his baby brother who that morning was looking insanely cute in a pair of green Nike's track-suit that really complemented his hair nicely courtesy of Jennifer of Hamamatsu. "Are you alright?" he added, rather worriedly.

"Of course, I am," the blond bishounen answered, eyes scanning the place wildly for someone or something that he obviously couldn't find. "Conrart, are you alone today? Where's the king of wimp?" he asked casually, while submitting himself to some light stretching.

The brunette chuckled softly. "It seems that way. Yuuri Heika is still in his office trying to sign all the documents that were dumped on his table by our big brother yesterday. I saw Gwendal this morning; he was still smiling from ear to ear. That rascal…" He then looked at his brother closely. "Am I right to assume that you're going to keep your old brother company for his daily run today?" He winked playfully at the reddening blond.

Wolfram, ignoring the warmness creeping up to his face, replied arrogantly, "What makes you think that I want to lower my standard to run with you?" But the effect was spoilt by the glint of mischief in his eyes and the fact that he stuck out his tongue at the astonished soldier.

Conrart smiled earnestly, one of the rare times that he actually smiled form the bottom of his heart. Being with Wolfram was one of the times. "Alright then, shall we start?"

The both of them started running at a pace that was comfortable to the convalescing Wolfram. The morning air felt cold to their skins; Wolfram was slightly shivering but tried as hard as he could to not show it to his brother. Conrart meanwhile was deep in his thought. Usually, Conrart would follow the route that would take him just outside the baseball field in case Yuuri had an urge to play catch. But, seeing that today he was running with his brother, who was acting slightly out of his mind, he decided to take a different way; the route that would lead to the woods behind Blood Pledge Castle. The woods then would open up to Wolfram's most favorite place in the world when he was little, 'The Marchénland' as he called it.

"I see that you're taking me through a different path, today, Conrart," Wolfram turned to his brother, all the while panting for breath. Before the sickness, he could easily run 3 miles without breaking a single sweat. But now, only after a fifteen-minutes jog, his breathing was labored and he hated that. He hated weaknesses of all kind.

"Yeah. I'm going to take you to a special place. You just have to follow and I think you better not speak when you're running. It'll tire you easily." Wolfram just nodded.

During the 1-hour run, none of them really said anything. Both men were too busy enjoying the scenery and in Wolfram's case, busy trying to control his breathing. In a way, Wolfram was glad that Conrart didn't ask him anything more than he already did. If he did, that would ruin everything he had already planned.

"We're here," Conrart suddenly announced, surprising Wolfram who almost conjure a fireball in his surprised state. The hot-headed prince then looked around to see what was so special about this place that Conrart was willing to change his usual path. What he saw made his tears welled.

"Marchénland," he whispered, voice cracked. He was genuinely touched that Conrart could still remember the place where the both of them used to play a lot before he knew his "Little Big Brother' was a half-Mazoku. Even after all he did to him; all the silent treatments, all the name callings, all the rudeness he bestowed him, Conrart still remembered. _'Yet, he remembers.'_

"It's been a while, huh, Little Brother," Conrart called out to Wolfram using the nickname he always used a long time ago. He then cleared a spot under a cherry blossom-like tree, which unlike its counterpart on Earth, stayed bloom all year long, before beckoning for Wolfram to sit beside him.

"You still remember this? You truly surprised me, Little Big Brother," Wolfram replied with a slightly quivering voice.

"Why shouldn't I remember? You are my one and only Little Brother. There is no one in this world that can replace you," Conrart answered, eyes staring straight into Wolfram's emerald eyes. Every time the older man looked into those bottomless eyes, he swore he could almost see all his brother's feelings and emotions swimming in them.

"Even after what I've done to you?" Wolfram ventured further. The blond already knew the answer to that but somehow, listening to them coming out from his brother's mouth meant the world to him now. Wolfram really wanted to know that he really was needed, that he meant something to somebody, that his presence brought a ray of sunshine into somebody's life. Even if it was for one person.

"I never took it to heart," Conrart started, voice low. "I was hurt, yeah, I admit that, but somehow I know, if it was hard for me, it must've been a thousand times harder for you. I was merely on the receiving end of your wrath and anger but you, Wolfram, you were in the middle of it. I saw you often, sitting alone in the parapet, with that troubled face of yours." He patted Wolfram's head lightly just like he used to do. "My heart ached with you then. And it still is now."

Wolfram was beyond words. He could only look at Conrart with unblinking eyes. There he was, lamenting that no one would love him as a real person when the one that cared for him all these while was the person who he had conveniently shut out from him life. Now, it was all too late…

"Thank you, Little Big Brother," Wolfram actually let his tears slid without any attempt to wipe them up. "Thank you for loving me still even when all I ever did was hurt you." He got up and did the unthinkable; he hugged the stunned Conrart. _'Now I know everything will be alright.'_

****

"Aniue, what are you doing? Why aren't you in your office signing what-nots?" Wolfram was quite shocked to see his big brother in his room, surrounded by mountains of knitted-animals. From the fist-size bear bee that looked like it just got run down by one of those weird machine on Earth to the towering sand bear that resembles a white tree with arms and legs sticking out of it.

"Yuuri Heika is doing them for me," Gwendal answered, not even bothered to raise his head to meet Wolfram.

Wolfram invited himself in and sat down next to his brother, careful not to disturb the delicate balance of the mounting toys. "What are you going to do with this number of knitted stuff, Gwendal? Do you plan to have a lot of children in the future? I bet your children with Annissina would look cute. Although of course, not as cute as me," Wolfram laughed seeing the veins on his brother's forehead that had suddenly become visible.

"What do you want?" Gwendal asked grumpily. It was just after 10 in the morning. The day had barely started but his annoying but extremely adorable brother in his pristine blue uniform, unbutton at the neck, found it was funny to tease him. "If your idea of fun is making my blood boils, please, by all mean, use the door provided and get the heck out of here," he said heatedly.

"Is it wrong for a little brother to come and tease his older brother once in a while? Who knows when I will be able to do that again?" Wolfram answered. His hands were holding the knitted animal that looked like a mix between a mutilated fox and a mutated dolphin. The blond gingerly held the toy as if trying to keep it away from him. "Ano, Aniue. What is this?" He asked carefully, not wanting to hurt the administrator's pride more than it had already been.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gwendal looked sternly at the cowering blond.

'_Not at all,'_ Wolfram wanted to say but looking at his brother's face now, he bit back that retort. Instead, he answered, "I think so. Is it a……," Wolfram thought desperately. _'Alright, relax now. What could actually come out if an extremely ugly fox married a dolphin that looked like it just came out from a plastic surgery gone awry? Come on, think, Wolfram, think!.....Ah, got it.' _The blonde mentally patted himself at the back. "Is it a shark?" He smiled sheepishly.

Gwendal was surprised by the answer. Normally, it would take some explaining on his part to make the other party understand what he was trying to create. But today, Wolfram managed to figure it out all on his own. "Yeah, it is," the blue-eyed man actually grinned despite himself. It was a long time ago he decided to grace somebody with his rare smile. Usually the person who often managed to force his smile out of retirement was his ultra cute baby brother.

'_A shark with an extreme case of misaligned teeth,'_ he thought warily. What Ealya said about Earth Mazoku having an artistic ability was most certainly didn't apply to his brother. _'But, who cares really? As long as he's happy, that's more than anybody could ask for.'_

"Oh, right," Gwendal suddenly remembered. "Out with it Wolfram. Are you here because you wanted to convince me that I'm giving your fiancé…..,"

"Ex-fiancé," Wolfram quickly cut.

Gwendal looked disapprovingly but continued anyway, "….your EX-fiancé too much job?"

The golden-haired prince shook his head. "No… no. I'm not here to complain. I think it's good for you to train him like that. He needs to know his responsibility as a king. You're doing a good job, Aniue. Just don't kill him with your harsh attitude," Wolfram said while trying to look casual.

"Are you alright, Wolf? You're acting weirdly today," Gwendal got up and put a hand on Wolfram's forehead much to the latter's chagrin.

"Of course I am. Why does everybody think otherwise?"

"I don't know. You just acted out of ordinary and by ordinary, I mean by your standard."

"Humph," Wolfram pouted. "And what is my standard, Gwendal, if I may ask?"

"Forget about it. So why are you here, seriously?" he pushed the younger soldier.

"Nothing. Just want to share a calm morning with you. Honestly, Gwendal, you work too hard. You need to calm down a little bit and find someone to marry. You need to settle down," Wolfram told Gwendal. "And you need to give mother a grandchild, a real one, and give Conrart and me a nephew or niece. Hmm.… on second thought, a nephew would be nice though," he added.

"Why are you suddenly interested in my personal life? I find that highly disturbing," Gwendal frowned, adding one more throbbing vein to his already increasing collection.

"Why? I merely stated my opinion and opinion never kills, as far as I know. Furthermore, this is a free country and I have the rights to say whatever I want and when I want to," Wolfram relied smugly.

"Where did you get that crap about the freedom of speech?" Gwendal had to smile at his brother's sudden fascination with human/Mazoku rights.

"I think I heard it from the talking box back when we were on Earth."

"And I think you need to go the infirmary again, Wolfram. Do you want me to go with you?"

"No need. I'll go by myself, thank you," Wolfram replied, getting up from the bed and started walking out of the room. "You really are grumpy, did you know that?" Wolfram said over his shoulders.

"Every second of the day."

****

"Arghh… I swear, Gwendal plans to kill me," Yuuri muttered to himself while he was walking towards the northern patio. It was almost 4 in the afternoon. He stomach was screaming bloody murder as he had skipped his lunch. A while back in his office, he was quite sure that all the paperwork was out to prevent him from having his meal. Or maybe he was hallucinating. Or not. Yuuri wasn't sure anymore. Turning into the outside corridor, he could already smell the divine fragrance that was the end result of the maids' superior skills in cooking. He made a mental note to privately thank Sangria, Doria, Lasagna and Effe for their dedication in making sure that all the palettes in Blood Pledge Castle were satisfied. But what he saw made him stagger back.

"What?" his long strides were cut short when he finally saw the table. There, serving the food was none other than the blond whose absence was starting to take a toll on his life. "Wolfram?" he practically screamed the name.

Wolfram, who was fully engaged in playing a perfect host, spilled down some of the green tea that he was pouring into an intricately decorated cup. "What??!!" the emerald-eyed prince responded.

"Nothing," Yuuri retorted, earning him a murderous look from the soldier. "It's just that…. where's the maid? Why didn't they do their work? And why are you doing them? Aren't you supposed to be back in the infirmary?"

"I'm here, am I not?" Wolfram sassed. Then his look softened. "I heard from the maid that you didn't have your lunch and that the maid was preparing the food. So, I decided to cook something for you. You can question my motive, though, I don't care. You can say that I do this because I feel like it or because I feel bad about calling of the engagement. It doesn't matter. Even I'm not sure. Maybe a bit of both," he explained to Yuuri without being asked to.

"I don't mind really. What I do mind is do you know how to cook?" Yuuri eyed the dishes suspiciously. There was a platter of what seemed like decent meat ball spaghetti, and a plate of one disfigured cake. Then there was a bowl of, in Yuuri's humble opinion, Caesar Salad. Next to it, there was a tray of gyoza. "Did you make all these?" Yuuri asked, rather unbelievingly.

That resulted in him receiving a stabbing look from Wolfram. "What do you mean by that, Yuuri Heika? Can you kindly explain it to me?" He asked so sweetly that Yuuri backed away.

"I –I –me – mean – they look tasty. Let's eat." Yuuri pulled out a chair and quickly sit down, without even bothering to wait for a response from the fiery blond.

"Good choice. Now dig in. I made this especially for you," as fast as lightning Wolfram discarded the scary attitude and chose a cheery one. "I know you didn't notice anything, but I learned all these form your mother."

Yuuri, who was still contemplating whether to eat and die, or to not eat and also die, looked up at the blond. "Eh, really? When?"

"When do you think? When I followed you back to Earth, of course. At first, I tried to learn her famous curry, but I nearly burned down the house with it, so Miko-san taught me spa…umm..spag….ahh…that curly thing instead. Now hurry up and eat."

Yuuri quickly stuffed his face with Wolfram look of if-you-don't-eat-I'll-fry-you-instead accompanying him.

"Oh…wow…I never pegged you as a cook Wolf. This is very delicious." Yuuri stuffed another spoon of spaghetti into his mouth. "Seriously, you would be a successful chef if you were on Earth."

"I'm glad you like it. It doesn't matter if anyone else hates it, really," Wolfram haltered. This was the first time that the both of them sat together and enjoying a meal after the incident that night. He really missed the past but now, he had to focus on the future. So, this was the least that he could do to make it a little bit bearable for all of them. He was doing this for all of them. No other reason.

"Yuuri, Greta has grown up, hasn't she?" It was a rhetorical question.

"Umm…yup…," Yuuri answered between bites.

"She grew up so fast, eh?"

"Agreed."

"And pretty too, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Take good care of her for me, will you?" he muttered softly.

"What?" Yuuri was busy eating he didn't even hear the last question.

"Nothing," the blond quickly shrugged. After a while, he continued, "Now, you, on the other hand, Yuuri, you need to grow up."

Yuuri nearly chocked on his food. "What did you just say?"

"I said you need to grow up," Wolfram repeated annoyingly. "Must I repeat everything I just said?"

Yuuri looked at the blond with unbelievable eyes. "No, of course not. I was just surprised. What did you say that for?"

"You're already 20, Yuuri. Not exactly a child anymore, in this world or any other world."

"Yeah, I know that. It's not a mystery after all. What are you trying to say?"

"You need to take responsibility in running this country and stop relying on Gwendal. I know he is the administrator and his job is to ensure the smooth running for this country, but you rely on him too much. He even sorted out the paperwork before handing them out to you."

Yuuri looked at Wolfram without blinking his eyes. He never imagined that Wolfram would be thinking this kind of things. He seriously thought that the blond was pretty shallow. "I guess you're right."

"You bet I am. He's not going to be by your side forever you know. No one is. So, you have to learn to rely on your own strength and overcome your own weaknesses to be a good… no…. a great king," Wolfram said, eyeing the king with sad eyes.

Silence. Yuuri was deep in his thought, trying to absorb everything his former fiancé had just said. _'He's right. I know he's right. But why can't I accept it? Why do I have a feeling that this is much more than that? That there is something that he's not telling me?'_ "Is there anything else you want to tell me, Wolf?" Yuuri asked, trying to venture into the unknown territory of the blonde's mind.

"You mean, anything else like I'm sorry? Yeah, you're right. I am sorry," Wolfram responded. _'I'm sorry for what I'm about to do to you and the rest,' _was what he wanted to say but tried as he might, Wolfram just couldn't say it out loud.

Instead, he said, "I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable ever since our accidental engagement. The way I was pursuing you, the way I was pressing you, the way I was suffocating you…. If I were to write it all down, it would require a parchment as long as the Qayn River. You do know where Qayn River is, don't you?"

"Of course, I do. What do you take me for?" Yuuri answered heatedly. But a moment later, his voice weakened. "Wolfram, please stop this. You're scaring me. It is as if you're trying to say goodbye," Yuuri interjected softly.

Wolfram was a little taken aback by that remark but quickly regained his composure. _'I am.'_

"Yuuri," Wolfram started. "I know you probably don't want to hear what I'm about to say to you. But I just have too," he stopped to take his breath. Suddenly, he felt his chest was constricted; not because of the pain but because he was nervous. "When I said 'I love you' over and over again for these past years, please know that I mean everything I said. I do love you. I loved you then, I love you now and I will love you maybe till the end of time. But I know that you can't force love. And I know I can never force you to love me."

"Wolfram…."

"But the best lesson I've learned from all these is that letting go is also a form of love. When you love someone so much, the last thing you want to do is hurt them. That was what I did, Yuuri. That's why I let you go. I knew you were hurting. I knew everything about same sex relationship is so confusing to you. If I could, I really wanted to be your lover but alas, we aren't meant to be. So please don't hate me," Wolfram ended his one-sided conversation with a long sigh.

"Wolfram….,"

But before Yuuri could finish his sentence, the blonde suddenly got up and announced, "What a nice afternoon to be outside. I think I want to take a walk," and started walking, leaving the double black with mouth wide opened. "See you later, Yuuri," he called before disappearing behind the wall.

"What was that?" Yuuri asked himself, feeling confused with the blonde's attitude.

****

"Where's Wolfram?" Greta asked Yuuri when the both of them arrived at dining hall for dinner.

Yuuri, who was rubbing his aching neck with his eyes closed, replied weakly, "I don't know, Greta. But I saw him a few hours ago." _'Really, Gwendal plans to kill me.'_

"I saw him too. He took me for a walk outside and we talked about a lot of things. He was acting strange," Greta said, her brows furrowed.

"You think that too?" a masculine voice behind them suddenly asked. Yuuri and Greta turned around to see an unsmiling Gwendal walking towards them. The teenage princess nodded vigorously.

"Mother told me she saw Wolfram about an hour ago. It was like Wolfram was trying to say goodbye, she said. She then asked me to have little chat with him, to try to find out what was wrong. But I couldn't find him," the administrator told his audience. "Where is he?"

"Maybe we should organize a search party, just in case," Yuuri suggested. He remembered his earlier conversation with the blond and suddenly an uneasy feeling crept up on him.

"It's still early, Heika. And I'm sure if he was just having a late walk and find out than an entire squadron was enlisted to search for him, he would be beyond angry."

"You're ri…..," but the sentence was cut short when suddenly a piercing scream fill their ears.

"Mother!"

All of them started to run towards the direction of the scream. It was Wolfram's room. When Gwendal opened the door, he saw his mother already on the floor sobbing hysterically, her right hand clutching hard a piece of paper.

"What's happening, Gwen?" Conrart who had just arrived asked his brother.

"Don't know," was Gwendal only response. He then approached his mother cautiously. Lowering himself to the floor, he gently picked her up and hugged her.

"Mother? What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Chérie's sobbing became more uncontrollable. Without saying a word, she showed Gwendal the paper that she was holding as if it was her life.

Conrart quickly took the paper. "It's from Wolfram," he said before reading it out loud.

_Dear all,_

_By the time you read this letter, you might've realized that I'm already gone. Well, then again, maybe not. It's not my intention to explain everything I'm about to say via a letter but I just don't know how to do it face-to-face. Please don't label me as selfish. There might be a thousand things that I've done before in my life to land me that title but this is not one of them. _

_Something happened to me that prompted me to take this drastic action. I saw Corintha 10,000 years ago. I saw her when she first started to gather knowledge about eternal life. I know what was required to activate the initiation spell. I know everything that she tried to hide from Ealya. And what I saw was enough to make me temporarily lose my mind. _

_We learned in history that the La Una people became extinct when a disastrous earthquake hit their region. We know that those who managed to survive the quake were then swept by the biggest tsunami ever written in history. But what we didn't know was that there wasn't even an earthquake. The whole civilization ceased to exist because Corintha used her people's lives to create the contract as initiation to the immortal life. That was the price to pay for the initiation's ritual. Just because a person decided to extend her stay here, hundreds of thousands lives had to pay. _

_Corintha wants me. She wanted me then and she wants me now. I realized that when I ventured into her mind. She won't stop until she gets me. And I cannot sit on my butt waiting for another village to fall into her hand. I've seen enough pain that will last me this lifetime and maybe the next. I don't want another catastrophe. _

_But rest assure when I said, I'm not going to hand her anything. Not my life and certainly not my soul. I'm not going to prolong her wrongfully obtained life. I'm not going to let her do the same thing to anybody else. All the things that had happened to me and my family, that's going to be the last time. If I'm going down, then she's coming with me to the depth of hell. And I'll make sure that she will never get out. I'll make sure that she'll rot down there._

_So, I'm going to find her alone. I know where she is. She showed me where she is when I peeked into her memories. I bet the reason she showed me is because she wants me to come and find her. Well, then, she should be happy because I am on my way to finally meet her for the final confrontation. _

_Till we meet again,_

_Sincerely,_

_Wolfram von Bielefeld_

Conrart's hand was trembling by the time he finished reading the letter. "That little brat. No wonder he was acting strange all day long. He was saying his goodbye," Conrart's gritted his teeth, voice quivering. Everyone else was stunned beyond words.

In the background, Cherie was still sobbing hysterically.

****

"So, he is coming after all," Corintha said excitedly. "Then I have to prepare myself to meet him. Ahh…I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. And do you know what that means?" She then turned to look at the terrified villagers who were huddling together in the cave just outside von Gyllenhal's territory. "It means I have to kill the lots of you," she whispered softly.

"Scared?" She asked one of the villagers who was cowering behind a stalagmite. The girl nodded in the hope that Corintha might take some pity on her.

"Don't worry," she glided forward towards the young girl, all the while flashing her perfect smile. The girl relaxed a bit and smiled too. Corintha extended her hands to touch the girl's cheeks. "You shouldn't be scared. Right now, there is nothing to be scared about." She released the girl and walked back to where she was standing a while ago.

"What I'm about to do to you is scarier. I suggest you save your fear until then," She replied before turning back to stare at the scenery in front on her. "It is much more scarier."

****

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A/N: Thank you very much to those who reviewed; **sangleguira**, **Mizuki hikari**, **Devil of My Family**, **turnersyndrome**, **CARohanne**, and **nickypooh**. The most I received in one chapter. I hope I can receive as much for this chappy. I will try to update as soon as I can. Don't forget to review, OK? Next chapter: **The Final Confrontation: The Chosen One**.

P/S: The action will start next chapter. Be ready for blood and gore and unexpected things. I seriously want to kill someone. So who shall it be? Any idea? I'm all ears!! As if you want to answer that. OK then? Who do you want to survive?


	13. Final Confrontation: The Chosen One

I just got home from work. I didn't even have my lunch and it's already 9 o'clock in the evening. But before I do anything else, I just have to update. Yes, after a long absence, I finally have an update. A real update; an update conceived with effort and countless sweat (sweat IS uncountable, dude!!). So there you have it. Third to last chapter of my first baby. As usual, not Beta-Ed and sorry in advance for any OOCness (you'll see plenty, haha). Enjoy…

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Chapter 12: The Final Confrontation: The Chosen One

"Captain!!" A red-haired soldiers wearing the brown uniform came running into the dining hall without so much as a knock, earning him a deadly glare from the already annoyed Gwendal.

"Can a man have his breakfast without any interruption? Honestly, I thought it is polite to knock first, THEN enter."

The man started to cower from Gwendal's look but then he decided that this was not the best of time to do so. The life of the person who caused such a gloomy atmosphere in Blood Pledge Castle kind of rely on him.

"I'm sorry for my rudeness, my Lord, but I'm afraid news as big as this one requires no time-wasting. I just received a letter from the spy Yozak. He just pinpointed the exact location of the target, Corintha. Currently, she is in a cave just outside the von Gyllenhal's land. And apparently, she has one whole village with her as hostages, about 500 people," the soldier reported to those who were still listening. Conrart upon hearing that there was news from Yozak quickly abandoned his half-eaten breakfast and rushed outside, presumably to assemble his men. Gwendal also grabbed Annissina by her right arm and headed outside to her lab, doubtless to continue her still unfinished research. Gunter quickly flew out of the room, making his way to the library to further study about the elements in the hopes that his research could in some way aid Annissina's.

"Thank you for the information, my good soldier," Murata, as the only male left in the room, said to the confused soldier. He rose from his seat and casually picked up his black book. "You are excused," he continued without glancing at the young man. At that moment, there was only one thing that occupied his mind. He needed to inform Yuuri about the good news and get the stubborn king to eat something. The young monarch was on an unreasonable hunger strike since he learned that Wolfram had left Shin Makoku,and effectively left him behind. "It was all my fault," he kept lamenting, making Murata itched to smack his head.

Beside the Great Sage, Cherie was hugging the already sobbing Greta, both of them paying no attention to the onlookers.

"Grandma, will Wolfram be alright?" Greta's broken voice sounded so fragile to the ears of the listeners. The maids bit their lips trying so hard not to cry.

Cherie wiped the tears off Greta's cheeks. "Of course he will. He is your father, right?"

"Um."

"But to be on the safe side, let's pray for his safety, shall we?" Cherie whispered softly, trying to sound convincing, which she failed miserably. Her quivering voice betrayed the confident look she was displaying.

****

Wolfram stood at the brink of the precipice, overlooking the open sea in front of him. The calm sea contradicted the waves of emotions raging inside his mind. The gentle waves that constantly combing the hard stone really irked him. Not once that day that he didn't think why couldn't his life be as the sea as he saw it now. He could face the occasional small crisis in his life but never as big as the one he was struggling to deal with. He desperately wanted to blame somebody or some power for his lack of happiness in life, asking himself what wrong had he done in his previous life to deserve all these. But deep down somehow he knew, there was no point in sitting around, crying over something that he obviously had no control of.

Brushing his hair out of his eyes, Wolfram smiled softly. He had to smile at the irony of the situation. All the things that had occurred throughout his long life happened for a reason; that much he believed. And he believed the reason was to teach him to be a more matured and selfless person. In short, all these trials in his life taught him to be a better person._ 'God sure has a bizarre way to show that He cares,' _Wolfram chuckled, feeling quite silly for finding the situation funny.

Exhaling a long breath, he rode his horse once again, riding towards his doom, with Corintha occupying his entire mind.

****

Corintha was standing in the middle of the body parts of those whose soul she had just devoured. The smell of blood used to bother her in the beginning but now, the coppery scent of the blood excited her. She could feel her veins throbbing for more soul, more power. But the best thing that she could do at the moment was to wait patiently for her one and true soul mate, the only one that could truly save her from the absolute thing that she was scared of the most.

When she remembered back to the time when she was forced to make this dreadful decision, she wished that someone was there to stop her from making that grave mistake. Not to say that she was fully repentant for what she did. After years of committing sins after sins, there'd come a day when she felt like she did nothing wrong. She convinced herself that what she did was essential for her survival. This was the world where the stronger creations crushed the weaker ones. In some sense, she was proud for being one of the strongest, who could actually destroyed those at the bottom of the food-chain with almost no effort at all. Life meant nothing to her, except for her own.

A pathetic whimper brought Corintha back to the reality she currently inhabited. The girl who she first saw hiding behind the stalagmite, was lying under her feet, motionless but still alive. Her eyes were frantically searching for some way to escape the inevitable death. Tears silently slid down her cheeks onto the red earth beneath her, joining the almost dried pool of blood.

"Oh…. So you're still alive? Even with that hole in your stomach?" She bent down to take a better look at the ashen-faced girl. "You human never fail to fascinate me." Corintha extended her long talons and run it through the girl's chest. "Now, I wonder, will you live if I tore out your heart from your body? Please don't disappoint me," she said in a mocking voice.

The girl, Asha, sobbed silently. She really wanted to let go of the life she could barely hold on to; the easiest thing she could do now. But somehow, even with her entire family massacred by the unknown devil standing on top of her, she desperately wanted to continue living; to live for her parents, her siblings, her friends, and for everyone who were killed by the same person who was trying to end her life right now. The pain she was experiencing was totally out of this world. Her intestines protruded from the hole in her stomach, as if trying to say hello to the world beyond. Her almost severed legs felt like it was being stabbed by millions of invisible swords. Compared to those wounds, the uncountable lacerations on her body seemed trivial.

"Pl–ea–se," Asha croaked weakly. Now she understand Corintha's real reason for saying the worst was yet to come. She couldn't imagine anything worse than the situation she was currently in; actually begging for her own life. "Ple–ase….. I wa–nt to liv–e," she continued pathetically.

Corintha squatted down, truly enjoying the view presented to her. Rubbing the girl's blood-soaked cheeks, she purred, "Why should I let you do that?"

But it wasn't Asha who answered her question. Instead, the voice of the person she wanted to hear to most sounded distant to her ears. "Because you have no right to determine whether one should live or die, you sick ol' bitch," a fuming Wolfram was standing at the entrance of the cave, his right hand firmly clutching his only trustworthy companion he had left; his sword. "Your business is with me, so let her go."

Corintha, who was about to tore the poor girl's head off, turned around to greet the newcomer. Her clutches on the poor girl suddenly loosen as soon as she saw Wolfram. Her expression was unreadable; if one observed carefully, one could see a variety of emotions playing on her perfect face. Initially, Wolfram could see that she was ecstatic, than a second later it was replaced by sadness followed by extreme anger. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the anger was replaced by a nonchalant look. "Finally! I've been waiting for your arrival for the past thousands of years. And after a few years living in this hellhole alone, I've finally become bored. The blood of the people that I've killed rested on your shoulders for making me wait, my love," her tone was flat, avoid of any emotion but Wolfram could detect the malice in it, subtle it may be.

"I'm not who you think I am," the prince shot back. He could feel the hilt of his sword getting warmer from his firm grip.

"Really? Then why are you here?" Corintha asked, fake smile still tugging at her lips. "Aren't you here because you already know the truth behind it all? How they cheated me of my love–of you? How they tortured and killed you because of something you never did? Aren't that the reason?"

Wolfram looked at the pitiful creature in front of him. As much as he hated Corintha for all the pain she caused Shin Makoku, for some unfathomable reason, the prince actually felt sorry for her. "No, that is not the reason. It was never the reason. I'm doing this for the ones I love, for the country I adore, for the people of Shin Makoku that I care," Wolfram replied. "I may carry his soul, but I don't know him. I don't remember him. I am not him."

Corintha looked at the prince silently. Wolfram looked exactly the same as he did 10,000 years ago. His blond hair, his petit figure; the only things different were the color of his eyes and his attitude. Qeuer was loving and soft spoken and patient and kind. Wolfram was the exact opposite of that.

"Tashikani. You are different, as different as heaven and earth. But you cannot deny the fact that you carried his soul. His soul is your soul. You are him. I just have to kick some sense into your head and maybe you'll remember. I'm prone to use violence as the first resort, as you already know," Corintha calmly uttered each word much to Wolfram's annoyance. Corintha was deliberately trying to make him angry by saying all those things and he wonder why.

'_Moushikashite?' _ Something clicked inside his mind.

"You really are trying to kill me, aren't you? Now I remember; the voice that keep on saying that I should take care of my temper and emotions or else it will be death of me; that was you," the revelation sunk in.

"How sharp!" Corintha replied with that mocking voice of hers. "You finally remember that? Did you remember anything else? Like all our times together?"

"Should I?" Wolfram was really straining to keep his cool. Having a conversation with a magical being with tremendous amount of ridiculous power was really tiring.

Corintha chuckled seducingly, "Of course. Maybe after you remember a thing or two, you won't be so bend into killing me. Maybe we can learn to live with each other like we did thousands of years ago."

Wolfram shook his head. "With all your accumulative 'achievements', I would've never pegged you as someone so stupid and retarded. Guess I was wrong, huh?"

Corintha' smile vanished that instant. Wolfram had just pushed her button. "Careful, my prince. Don't tread dangerous water carelessly. You'll never know what you might step on," she drawled, her voice lacking any motion.

"Is that a threat?" Wolfram grasped the hilt of his sword tighter, preparing for anything that the monster in front of him might do.

"Hmm…," Corintha just smiled maliciously but she didn't make any attempt to move. She stood unmoved, still as a rock, only her eyes were moving around searching for something.

_'What is she searching for? What is she up to now?'_ Wolfram was restless. From his experience, whenever an enemy ceased to move and was calmly scanning the area, it meant that he or she was searching for something to used against the other opponent. _'But what could she possibly…..'_ Wolfram turned around to see Asha still on the spot where Corintha had left her, barely alive. Beside him, Corintha started to make a move towards the poor girl, her talons already unsheathed.

"No!!!!" Wolfram rushed forwards, trying to stop her., all the while chanting_ 'Please let me make it, please let me make it, please let me make it……'_

Seconds later, a gruesome sound could be heard when something hard and sharp made its way through someone's flesh. On the ground, Asha eyes widened as blood continued to flow out of the wound. She wanted so much to stop the cruel flow but in her state right now, she couldn't even lift a finger.

Wolfram body swayed from the pain. Beneath him, the girl whimpered. "Are you OK?" he asked the girl, whose eyes were wide with fear. "Ha, silly me. Of course you're not, giving the state of your wound," the blond prince chuckled softly. "Let me rephrase that. Did she get you this time?"

Asha shook her head weakly. She couldn't believe that the youngest child of the previous Maou, the fiancé of the current Maou and a noble in his own right would want to save her, a country peasant. Now she knew that everything she ever heard about the handsome prince was nothing but a lie. "Are you alright, my lord?" Asha's hands automatically tried to move up, to touch the small but lethal wound on Wolfram's abdomen.

"Heh…this?" The blonde pointed at the hole. "I've experienced wo…worse. Don't worry about me. We have to g…get you out of here," with that said, Woflram tried to stand up but his wobbling legs gave away,

"Are you planning to run away, my lord?" Corintha mocked. "I've never thought you would stand in front of her to block my attack. That was stupid. Now you're hurt and that will decrease your chance of winning against me. Come on, she's just a peasant, for crying out loud. Was she worth it?" Corintha force herself to smile while deep in her wretched heart, she was furious with Wolfram. _'Why would he want to save her? She was nothing. What makes her so special for him to sacrifice himself?'_

"Even if I answer that in the simplest words I could ever muster, you wouldn't understand. Only a person with a heart will. You, on the other hand, bitch, already lost that the very first moment you killed another being," Wolfram wiped the trail of blood that was running down his chin. His ears were ringing, making him more uncomfortable. For the love of Shinou, the pain was unbearable but he was left with no choice but to fight, even to his death.

_'Yeah, do that. You idiot. You never really did pay any attention to what I said, didn't you?'_ An angry voice suddenly spoke inside his head.

_'Huh?'_

_'Don't 'Huh' me, you good for nothing brat. Didn't the Sage tell all of you to NOT DO anything stupid and get yourself killed for free?' _Shinou was beyond angry. This descendant of his proved to be a very hard Mazoku to control. Everything he did was the exact thing that he was told not to do.

_'Yeah…but I figured….'_

_'No! You don't figure, you don't think and you don't care. In my book, what you are about to do is stupid. Pull back and regroup with the rest. They're already on their way here. Pull back, NOW!' _Shinou practically screamed in Wolfram's head.

Corintha, who was about to use some of force to have the blond answered her questions, was shocked to see the prince suddenly standing still as if trying to concentrate on something. _'Now what is he up to?'_

_'Alright, alright. Don't scream. You're popping my eardrums. And for your info, Shinou Heika, I would love to pull back so that I can save the sole survivor of this horrible massacre, but- I'm not sure whether you can feel it or not- I'm already injured. I can't move very far without her quickly gaining on me.' _He tried explaining to the Great One as gently as he could, not wanting Shinou to get into an angrier state than he already had.

_'WHAT??!!'_

_'I said 'Don't scream'_,' Wolfram replied annoyingly.

_"How can I not scream when you're already dug yourself a cozy grave to die in? You are -------I'm at a loss for words. Seriously, this is the first time in my life I ever encountered this pain-in-the-ass condition. Usually, I leave it to the Great Sage to do that. You stay there. Don't go anywhere and DO NOT DO ANYTHING STUPID!!'_

"I said 'Don't scream'", Wolfram yelled out, earning him a confused look from both Corintha and Asha.

Wolfram face grew hot. "I have Multiple Personality Disorder. That was my not-right-in-the-head personality," he explained lamely.

****

"Your brother is so stubborn and rash and brash and everything along that line," Shinou suddenly materialized on Conrart's left shoulder, his booming, angry yell scaring the soldier's horse and making it gallop out of control.

"Whoaa, there. Relax," Conrart stroke the beast's magnificent mane, trying to calm it down. "And you don't have to yell to send across your message, you know," the brunette turned to the Great One, annoyingly telling him off, not really caring if the great MahouTsukai decided to turn him into something unnatural for his impudence. "We got that the first moment he knew how to throw a tantrum," he spoke softly, not wanting to terrify the already calmed beast again.

"Any news on him, Shinou Heika?" Gwendal inquired, paying no attention to his brother's antics. Conrart was turning bit by bit into Wolfram, in sense of his impulsiveness and hot-headedness. Gwendal never thought this day would come when he had two Wolframs in his life._ 'Honestly, one Wolfram in the family is enough.'_

Shinou looked hard at Conrart before shifting his attention to Gwendal. "Yes, there is in fact some news on the brat," he said, stressing on the last syllable. Conrart cringed when he heard the word. Seriously, was Shinou trying to make him madder? Yuuri just looked dumbly at both spirit and man. Only Wolfram occupied his mind right now, and the constant interruption from his alter ego.

"Would you please stop saying that about Wolfram?" Conrart gritted his teeth.

"I will say whatever I want. Besides, he IS my descendant you know, making him liable for any of my name-calling," Shinou said, but his quivering voice betrayed him; anyone could see that he was actually really worried about the blonde prince. With a much weaker voice than his previous outburst, he turned to Gwendal, "He is where Corintha is. They've already met, face-to-face. And he is gravely hurt."

"What?" Yuuri couldn't help but scream. "How? Have they started the fight?"

"I don't know. Apparently, he tried to save a survivor from Corintha. And talking about survivor, the 500 hostages are dead, save one, the one Wolfram saved. I couldn't even feel their spirits lingering as spirits usually do after their mortal bodies were killed."

"Meaning?" Gwendal. He already knew the answer but he just had to ask.

"Meaning she has gotten much stronger by devouring all those souls. In this month alone, she had already devoured more than 3,000. That makes her insanely powerful."

"Am I not with you?" a deep voice suddenly spoke from behind them. Murata turned around to see that Yuuri had already turned into the Maou completely. His long hair billowed behind him, making him look more intimidating than usual. "I'm also a water wielder so basically I'm the answer to your prayer, am I not right?"

"Yes, it's true. But, Annissina hasn't finished her research just yet. We still don't know how to destroy her except for the fact that water must be used. So do not be cocky, my young king," Murata advised the young spirit.

The Maou fell silent. True, they still hadn't found a way to effectively kill the now official 'National Disaster'. But how long must he wait until he could destroy the nuisance and save his love?

"How long till we arrive there?" Gwendal looked at the sun. The burning ball of light was straight o top of them, indicating the day was already half gone.

"We won't arrive there until sundown. That is if we make this our last stop," Conrart replied after judging his surroundings.

"That won't do. We have to be there as soon as possible. That brat need our help," Shinou shook his head. As much as he wanted to believe that Wolfram would be alright, there was this feeling inside of him that was telling him otherwise. Even when he was in Wolfram's mind, he could feel Corintha's power leaking out of her, a devastating power that suffocated him. One more extra minute with Corintha, Wolfram would be no more.

"You should have mentioned that much earlier. I would gladly allow all of you to use a little bit of my power to travel using water. Is the cave anywhere near a water source?" The Maou offered his service.

Shinou first thought was,_ 'Why didn't I think of that?'_

****

Wolfram was trying to stop Corintha's talons from stabbing the poor girl behind him but it seemed that the more he covered for her, the angrier Corintha became. Her attacks became more frequent and her moves became swifter, making Wolfram panting for breath. The wound in his abdomen had to be forgotten for a while.

"Stop, my lord. You'll injure yourself further if you keep covering from me," Asha whimpered brokenly. She didn't want to see her savior getting hurt any longer. If her covenant with God stated that she could only live till that moment, who was she to deny it. But she didn't want to drag Wolfram along into this mess. "You can still run. So leave me here and save yourself."

Wolfram smiled bitterly at the words. Asha knew nothing. She was a mere by-product of the hatred between him and Corintha. "No, silly. Even if I run to the end of the world, she will find me eventually. It's not you whom she wants. It wasn't the poor villagers that she truly seeks. The one she desires is the one who is standing in front of you, silly girl. I am the reason why all of these foul things happen. I am the reason why she still exists until this moment," Wolfram explained amidst the attacks from the determined Corintha.

"You're right, dear love. You're the only one I want. Everybody else doesn't matter to me. In fact, I plan to kill everybody else and strike out another bargain to ensure I don't have to recharge anymore, and to ensure that you can live this life with me."

"You know what, bitch. You're sick."

"I know!" With that she lunged forward and stabbed both of Wolfram's hand with her talons and effectively impaling him on the wall of rock behind him. Asha screamed.

"Now, are you going to surrender?" She sneered at the wincing prince. Wolfram with blood dripping off him looked inviting.

"Did he surrender easily?" Wolfram asked back, referring to his previous incarnation.

Corintha was taken aback by that question. No. the answer was no. Queur fought till the end of his life trying to prove his innocence. He fought with all he had to stay alive so that he wouldn't break their vows. He fought till the last of his breath only to be by her side.

"I guess he didn't, huh?" Wolfram kicked the woman's abdomen with every strength he could muster. Something cracked under the pressure of Wolfram's knees.

Corintha was thrown backward several feet. Unable to stand straight, she collapsed under the gravity. Her ribs hurt like hell. It was very hard to breath.

"You bastard." She gritted her teeth when a fresh wave of pain surged. _'Damnit!'_

Wolfram struggled to pick up his sword and tried to hold it firmly but his hands couldn't support the weight of the swords._ 'Damnit'._

"Lord von Bielefeld," Asha let out a horrified scream when she saw that Wolfram too had succumbed to his pain and was now lying face down on the floor of the cave.

****

Sorry for those who had to wait. It is not my intention to update this late. And I have quite a review for the last chapter. Thanks to all for those reviews. I had fun reading them. I hope you enjoyed reading this update. I had to find time to do this because my workload has become insanely insane. Sometime I love it, sometimes I hate it. Today, I didn't get the chance to see sunlight. So, the next update might come out late, but I'll try to update as soon as I can for you guys. And belated Gong Xi Fa Chai to you guys!! Next chapter:** The Final Confrontation: Survival of the Fittest. **

P/S: Reviews are much appreciated. And you can ask anything that bothers you. I'll try my best to supply a satisfying answer.


	14. Survival of the Fittest

Ah, finally. An update after more than four months. Sorry for the long absence. I've never intended to go on hiatus this long. Well, I better stop blabbering and let you enjoy (I hope) the update. As usual, not Beta-Ed and was thought of mostly when I was bored in meetings so please excuse my lack of 'whateverness', idea, etc…Oh and please R&R….

Disclaimer: I will neither own the deliciousness of Wolfram nor the honor of owning the fab KKM.

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Chapter Thirteen: The Final Confrontation: The Survival the Fittest.

"Stop it! Stop it! What are you going to do to him? Let him go! Let him go…," a woman's frantic cry could be heard piercing the silent procession. But no matter how much she screamed and how much she pleaded, the procession went on without any indication of stopping. The crowd completely ignored the woman's plight without even a pinch of sympathy. To them, she was dead. To them, she meant nothing. Her appearance at the moment only heightened their disgust towards her. Her long white robe was now dirty and torn, although she didn't care for any of that. What mattered to her the most was the life of her loved one.

"Where are you taking him?" she said, all the while holding tightly, very tightly in fact, to the sleeves of one of the crowd.

The man looked disgusted. "Let me go, sister. Do you wish to be punished as well, after all Mother had done for your sake just to save your neck?" the man turned, jerking his sleeves out of the woman's clutches, making the poor creature lost her footing.

"Please, Orwyn, help me stop this madness. You know he didn't do anything. Please, I'm begging you," Corintha fell to her knees, sweeping the dirt at the hem of her long robe.

Orwyn looked unsympathetically at his younger sister, whose face now was wet with tears and streaked with dirt. Gone were the regal bearing of the daughter of Wercott's current ruler. At that moment, his sister looked even more pathetic than the lowliest peasant. "Get up, Corinth. Even if you beg like this, the sentence won't change. Besides, the charges were brought in by one of the royal family members. Who would want to believe an obscure noble over a royal-blood? It's the word of the Queen's niece against the word of somebody with a shady past," Orwyn grasped his sister's arm to haul her up but the young woman was adamant not to move. Or rather she was too stunned to move even a muscle.

"Ayreyn did?" Corintha was beyond shocked. Why would her cousin say such a thing about Queur? Ayreyn knew exactly who he was, and he was not as what they'd said about him. They successfully made him looked like a horrible monsterThe black-haired beauty looked up questioningly at her big brother.

"You didn't know that Ayreyn was the accuser?" Orwyn returned the look to his sister. How was that even possible? Everybody in Wercott's knew that Ayreyn also harbored strong feelings towards that creep, except the creep himself which was not that mysterious given his devoted love towards his sister. _'Maybe she knows, but pretends not to know.'_ Corintha was always a good-natured child, an obedient daughter, a kind-hearted princess and a loving partner. All the essential ingredients in becoming a mighty ruler. And the most important thing of all, he was proud of her. People might not believe him, but Orwyn never did envy her sister for inheriting the kingdom because he was sure that no matter what she become, she would always love and care for him. Secretly, Orwyn was grateful for the fact that the responsibility to run the country was not dumped on him. _'If not, I have to be somebody that I am not.' _The ancient rule of Wercott, dated back from their original planet, stated that no man shall rule the kingdom or a big catastrophe would befall them all. And coincidentally, every ruler would always carry a female heir. And never once did the Wermoth family had to relinquish the throne because of the failure to conceive the desirable sex. He doubted that that was a miracle; the higher power just wanted to ensure that the throne never change hand, a sign that their family was indeed being blessed. But now, the look on his sister's suggested otherwise.

"No," Corintha answered feebly. That answer was still the truth even if it was only a partial truth. She could tell that Ayreyn had some feeling that to her resembled lust, but never in her wildest imagination that she ever thought Ayreyn would be back-stabbing her. Although her mind told her to believe it, her heart was telling her not to. How can it be possible? The two of them were inseparable since birth. They were even born in the same week, two days separating each other. And all of that came to a stop because both of them fell in love with the same man. _'Just because of a man.'_ Weakly, she looked at her brother, her voice quivering slightly, "Who would want to hear a Queen's niece over the future Queen herself?" she asked brokenly. She hated appearing weak but now everything she ever thought was perfect turned out to be a mere mirage.

Orwyn had to look away when Corintha said that, his sharp ears twitching nervously. Now, did he finally understand why Ayreyn was adamant to not wanting them to conduct a thorough investigation on Queur, claiming that if Queur knew, then he would unleash something horrible upon them to exact revenge. Only now, when he put two and two together did he finally realize the disgusting truth behind it all. Ayreyn was the one who created a lot of untrue stories about Corintha, making her look like a cheap whore and an unfit ruler. She spread rumours that Corintha was the first one to use forbidden spells to bewitched Queur and then taught him how to do the immortality spell. Orwyn always wondered how such untrue stories about Corintha managed to spread like a contained fire; spreading wildly but always containable. Corintha never knew about the stories nor did he for that matter, not until a few days ago when the sentence upon Queur was read in front of them as the royal family.

"Not when the future Queen has some undesirable stories about her. Corinth, give up, please. Why would you want to sacrifice yourself over a man who is not even compatible with you?" Orwyn had to say the only thing that could hurt his sister in order to save her life. The people were willing to overlook the accusation against Corintha when the Queen herself had guaranteed her innocence. But there were still many non-believers. And when they saw how Corintha pleaded for Queur's life like a filthy beggar, they would only assume that Corintha was indeed in league with that condemned man.

"Why wouldn't I? I love him, Orwyn. Can't you understand at least that? And because of that love, I would gladly give my life if that meant I could save him." Corintha stood up, brushing the dirt away with her trembling hands. Love was something the La Una weren't familiar with. Love was like a curse. Love made people do insane things. Love required sacrifices to appease the cruel fate that awaited those who were unlucky enough to be on its bad side. Love knew no boundary. Love was blind.

"Why are you so keen on saving him? He could not be saved, damnit. His fate was sealed the moment he was brought to the court. Nobody would believe the two of you. Not when there are a lot of people dying. This country needs an escape goat to control the people and Queur came at the right moment."

Corintha couldn't believe her ears. How could her brother be so cold and selfish? They were dealing with another being's life not an unanimated object. "I've never thought that you were incapable of feeling. Don't you feel in that stone-cold heart of yours even a little bit of empathy towards him? He's just like us. He's one of us. How could you so easily judge him like that? You don't even know him."

Orwyn shot his sister a look that could turn her into stone. "It is because I don't know him that I was willing to let him die. If his death means chaos could be contained and peace could be reinstated, then so be it. If his death could ensure my sister's, my own flesh and blood's survival, then I wouldn't mind being called a murderer."

Silence reigned, allowing the poor woman to absorb the fact that was lying in front of her, naked. Slowly but surely, the cold, hard truth finally sank in. "You're not going to lend me your help no matter how much I begged and pleaded, are you? You're not going to lift even a finger, are you?" Corintha backed away from her brother. She had never felt this lonely in her life. She had never felt more betrayed that she was right now. The feeling of helplessness combined with her anger towards her people lacked of feelings made her nauseous. Her heart was aching for some comfort which nobody could possible provide. Everybody was out there to save their own pretty necks, leaving Queur to die in their places instead.

"Fine then, dear brother. If you refuse to help me, then I'll figure out something myself. And when I've decided, please know that nothing could sway me from the path I've chosen. And bear in mind, whatever happens, the responsibility and the burden lie on everyone's shoulders."

Orwyn, who was starting to feel guilty when he saw how broken-hearted his sister was, looked unbelievingly at Corintha, his eyes bulging dangerously. "What does that even mean, Corinth? Are you threatening me?"

But Corintha had already started to walk away, leaving her one and only brother behind trying to figure out what she had just said. At that moment, she'd already decided what she wanted to do. _'If an immortal they want, then an immortal they shall get.'_

####

**-Present time-**

Yuuri would replay that moment when he saw Wolfram fell down over and over again in the course of his long life, all the while wishing somehow he could change the history.

"Wolfram!" Yuuri rushed towards the fallen blonde. His scream echoed through the cave, alerting Corintha of the newcomers.

"Hmm, more players in the house. Good. More to torture and more to kill," she said gleefully. She had fully recovered from the pain Wolfram inflicted upon her a while ago. _'What a waste of power.'_ She brushed the dust that had managed to accumulate at the hem of her skirt, actually savoring the moment. After fully satisfied with her physical appearance, she stood back and addressed her new audience with a lusty drawl.

"Are you guys here to save my prince?" she started, her voice sounded mocking to the ears of those who were listening.

"Your prince?" Yuuri looked at Corintha eyes unblinking. _'Now she claims Wolfram is hers? What the hell is going on here?'_ "Forgive me for sounding stupid, but what do you mean by 'your prince'?" Yuuri asked back heatedly. Wolfram was his and his forever. He questioningly looked at the blonde prince who was being helped by his brothers. The jealousy he never knew he had started to flame his anger.

Wolfram winced, not from the pain, but from the look Yuuri was giving him._ 'Was that jealousy I just saw in Yuuri's eyes? Should I be happy?'_

Corintha sneered at Yuuri. Why was this young man so adamant in wanting to know why she said that? She then turned around to see Wolfram. The prince was staring at the black-haired idiot with a look that resembled something she knew by heart. _'He is looking at him with eyes full of - love!' _She couldn't believe her eyes. Her prince was betraying her, with that no good, low-life, ape-like species? Her heart, or what was left of it, was beating very fast, so fast she couldn't count the beat anymore. The last strain of patience she had tried so hard to maintain melted in that one unforgettable second. 10,000 years ago, her people betrayed her. Now, the person she loved the most in this whole wide world to the point where she was willing to sacrifice her own happiness was doing the same thing to her. The anger she felt at the moment started to weaken her control over her power and it was leaking out of her uncontrollably.

Shinou was the first one to feel the immense power from Corintha. The power-overdose that he was experiencing was making his head spin out of control. _'Bakana -. Who could possibly control this ridiculous amount of power?'_ As much as he hated to admit it, he was actually feeling scared. Corintha was truly a very powerful being, more powerful than anything he could ever imagine. How could they possibly destroy something as powerful as that? _'The answer is… we can't.'_

The Great Sage also shared Shinou's concerns. Eventhough his maryoku was not as powerful as Shinou was, he could feel the humongous energy vibrating all over the place. The buzzing in his ears was starting to affect his sense of direction and was clouding his judgment. In fact, everybody there except Conrart and Yozak could feel the power; even those two felt something was squeezing the breath out of them. Wolfram already had the dry heaves, making him feel sicker even more.

"So what are we supposed to do here, Shinou Heika?" Conrart asked alarmingly while lending his hands to the ashen-faced Gwendal. At that moment, Yozak was busy thanking the higher power for not making him a full blooded Mazoku, one of the few times that he was extremely glad for not being one.

Shinou looked at the bright-haired man dazedly. _'The color of his hair is making me dizzy,'_ Shinou had to scrunch his eyes tightly to block the sight. "Uhmmm….. I cannot answer you at this moment. I'm busy preventing myself from puking out the last lunch I had 4000 years ago." The blonde king answered cynically while trying to hide the growing fear in the pit of his stomach. It was not because of the sickness that he couldn't answer; it was because for once in his life, he didn't actually have the answer. "So, go bother someone else with your question."

Upon hearing Shinou's answer, Murata couldn't help but smile albeit the seriousness of the situation. He seldom saw Shinou fell ill that badly, so bad that his face was literally turning to a shade darker than a lilac. He even looked quite funny and if Murata wasn't really thinking about the dire situation, he would definitely laugh his butt off. '_Who would've thought that a mighty Shinou could fall sick, well apart from his last day when Shoushu poisoned his body?'_

"But I know one thing for sure, if we stay here any longer, we might be swallowed by her intense power," Shinou pointed to the middle of the cave where Corintha was writhing in agony trying to regain control over her power. _'How much power could she possibly possess?' _The blonde man shivered at the thought of being obliterated into nothing if Coritha decided to suddenly release her energy.

The rest of them tried to ignore the power struggle that was taking place not far from them. All they wanted to do was to escape this wretched cave and if possible continue with their lives as if nothing ever happened. They all know for a fact that some of them might not be able to come out of this ordeal alive and if they were indeed spared; the wounds inflicted would be too deep for them to completely forget about it. The scars could never fade even if forever was to repeat itself.

Corintha, meanwhile, was struggling to keep her sanity, or what was left of it, from being controlled by the immense power within her. She knew the moment she lost herself to it, there was no possible way for her to regain her consciousness. She would become this one mindless entity whose sole existence was to kill in order to feed itself and that was the last thing that she wanted to become._ 'I cannot become that thing or it will be 10,000 years for nothing.' _10,000 years of actually regretting her action of killing her people, 10,000 years of actually wishing that she would be able to turn back the hands of time.

####

Corintha was eerily silent the moment the first fire-lit torch was thrown into the pyre. Her eyes bore no emotion at all; dull and lifeless. Every muscle in her body was stiff, unmoving, as if she was a statue that harbored no soul at all. Even when Queur started screaming as the fire started licking his nude body, Corintha remained motionless. Orwyn, although grateful he was at Corintha's failure to create any scene, looked at his sister as if she had just sprouted an extra arm.

"Corinth, are you alright?" The young man couldn't stop himself from asking although he knew how stupid his enquiry was. He knew from the look that Corintha was conveying that his sister was far from being alright, nor was she right in the mind. But he just had to ask, for the sake of his own sanity. He hadn't slept since last night after that fiasco, after what Corintha ha d said before she walked away. And when he finally had found the strength to move again, he turned the palace upside down trying to find his sister but she was nowhere to be found. His first instinct was the black-haired beauty had committed suicide.

"Yes, I'm fine, Brother," was Corintha's only response. Her eyes never left the platform where the current amusement was taking place. The more people reacted to the painful screaming, the more she withdrew from reality when finally what was left was only a hollow shell of a person without a soul. Her dark eyes just stared ahead; past the blazing inferno, past the cheering crowd, past her own time. Her face registered no emotion at all; her heart was officially dead.

Three hours later, when everything had been turned into ash, she finally got up and started to walk towards the pile of dust. _'Figures eh? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.' _Silently, she picked up a handful of the soot and placed it into a tiny jar in her trembling hands. There was no tear left for her to shed. All that was left now was her broken heart and her desire to exact revenge.

"Corinth?" Orwyn came to her side and put her strong hand on his sister's shoulder. "Let's go home."

"Hmm….let's."

####

Corintha was drowning in her own agony; every time she breathed, she felt like a million knife were stabbing her at the same moment. She could almost feel her body being mutilated beyond recognition, leaving a pile of bloody meat on the cave's floor. _'Control Corintha, control is the answer!'_ Lifting her head up, she could literally see yellow sparks emanating from her body. _'Shit, if this continues….' _Struggling, she got up to her knees and tried to regain her control over the sparks that was accumulating around her. With hands that were trembling madly, she tried calling back the power, but the moment her body started to absorb the leakage, pain too severe that no word could possibly ever describe jolted Corintha's entire lithe body. The ancient being collapsed under her own weight. The leaking power just wouldn't let itself being controlled by the weaken Corintha. It wanted to be free; it wanted to have life of its own. It wanted blood and chaos!

Wolfram saw how Corintha was struggling to regain control over her power and how each time she failed miserably. Something inside Wolfram ached to aid the monster, but the other part of him just wanted her to die in the most gruesome death any human or Mazoku could ever imagine. Let her taste the pain she inflicted upon others; let her feel the hotness of her own blood gushing out of her; let her live through her last moment on this world knowing that no one would cry over her death.

"Wolfram?" A soft hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. "Are you OK?" Wolfram snapped his head up and stared into a pair of beautiful eyes. Yuuri was looking at him with worried swimming in them. The pain that he was experiencing at that moment seemed to melt away the instance he looked into those bottomless orbs. That and the fact that he had already pumped half of his healing maryoku into his wound.

"Yeah, wimp. I'm alright. Now help me up!" Wolfram looked around and saw Conrart looking at him with murder in his eyes. "What?"

"You little conniving, sneaking, spoiled brat!" Conrart seethed. "What makes you think by running away like that you could solve all your problems?" But a second later all the madness just escaped him; the relief to see his brother literally unscathed was enough to neutralize the raging anger inside of him. Conrart offered his arms as a support for Wolfram. As soon as Wolfram was on his feet, Conrart hugged his baby brother with the biggest and warmest embrace he had ever given to anybody else.

"I'm glad you're still alive…..," Wolfram winced when Conrart's tight embrace made his shirt cling to his wound. The soldier grimaced at the obvious display of pain from his brother and added, "….considering."

Shinou, who had barely managed to keep himself from passing out, cleared his throat in the most pompous way. "Well, I apologize for breaking up this happy party-cum-reunion," he gestured dramatically at the vast cave with body parts strewn all over, "but we need to get out of here before she regain her control and started attacking us….or worse, explode and obliterate us all," he finished quietly.

Just as Shinou finished uttering the last word, at that precise moment, there was a shrill scream coming from the middle of the cave. A second later, a heat wave could be felt coming from the source of the scream, followed by a cold draught, a gusty wind and the rumbling of the earth consecutively. The evidence that the loud cry had come from Corintha; she was a wielder of all elements courtesy of those whose power she absorbed. Shinou and the Great Sage looked at each other alarmingly; as if asking each other _'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'_

"Run," Shinou's voice was almost emotionless, but something in his voice relayed the unspeakable urgency of his simple order.

####

It was raining blood that night. Nobody knew what actually attacked them; nobody could see the thing, but one by one, they were killed. It was like a celebration; a celebration for a successful massacre. The thing was stealthy, cunning, and most importantly, merciless. Bodies were thrown from balconies onto the pavement, often indistinguishable from a mound of meat. Terror reigned. Cries were everywhere. Mothers were busy trying to save their children, husbands frantically searched for their wives. And Corintha stood on top of the highest tower, observing the spreading panic gleefully.

While she was busy being a happy observant, the door behind her opened with a slammed, turning her triumphant grin into a sneer.

"Corinth?" Orwyn was beyond shocked at his discovery. "I got reports saying that the person who is responsible for all these is hiding here. Are you…?" the older man couldn't bring himself to finish the question. It was enough that he couldn't save his sister's heart from being broken; he was not going to add the sin of accusing her of doing the unspeakable act to his already growing guilt.

Corinth saw the uneasiness dancing in her sibling's eyes. "What? What are you going to ask? Hmmm, let me guess, 'Are you the one responsible?' right? Is that right, dear brother?"She smiled sweetly, showing her even white teeth with fangs adorning the each side of her mouth. Her eyes seemed to be saying, _'The answer is 'Yes', brother. So what are you going to do about it?' _

Orwyn could only gape at his beloved sister while awaiting her answer. His mind just couldn't accept that his sister was the one responsible. _'No….this must be some kind of a cruel joke. Corinth can never be that heartless, ruthless. She is the perfect embodiment of what a ruler should be. My sister…..' _"Don't tell me just because of a man, you're going to kill your own people, your own blood?" Orwyn asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"You're so naïve, Orwyn. I'm not going to kill our people or our blood, as you put it….," she answered with that mesmerizing voice of her, and Orwyn started to breathe normally. But before Orwyn had the chance to open his mouth to congratulate her for making him a worrywart, she ruined everything by adding. "I already did."

The casual way Corintha answered the question made Orwyn backed away a few steps. It was as if killing those innocent people down there meant nothing to her; like swatting thousands of annoying flies buzzing around. What should he do now? Escape was the best choice he had, but to where? And he could never leave all those innocent people behind. They didn't deserve this.

"Hmm….I wouldn't use the word _'innocent'_, brother, because none of you were. Remember what you did to revoke you of that title? Or do you want me to jog your memory?"

Orwyn's jaw dropped. What exactly was he dealing with? "You can read m-m-mind?" he asked, feeling a little bit stupid for asking an obviously rhetorical question, and then felt like a fool for actually thinking that he was a little bit stupid.

Corintha had to smile when she read her brother's thought. "Aikawarazu dana….Onii-sama. Always the thoughtful one," she softly murmured. "But I wonder, how thoughtful would you be of others' life if I offered to spare yours at the expense of their souls?"

If his jaws could drop to the ground, Orwyn was sure that it would have done so. _'Their souls? What did she mean by that? What does Corinth want with their souls?' _His head spun wildly in search for answers he knew he would never find nor understand.

"You're right, you will never understand the reason why because if you could, you would've helped me save Queur," the eyes of the sister he knew all his life were no longer the same; not the one he used to stare whenever he wanted comfort. The eyes were lacking something; something that used to tell others that they belong to a human, not a merciless monster. The eyes lacked compassion. And Orwyn, when he saw that, finally gave up. There was no way he could persuade the_ 'thing'_ in front of him to spare his life, let alone spare the others. As soon as he finished thinking that thoughts he sure Corintha could hear and was laughing maniacally behind his back, he felt something smacked his head, not hard, but still…. _'Moron, you still have to fight for their lives, you good for nothing bum,' suddenly he heard a voice so loud inside his head._

'_What?'_

'_Don't think. Just listen. Or she'll hear you,' _the voice's invisible hands smacked him again behind his head.

Orwyn closed his eyes to prevent himself from his itchiness to yell 'Ouch' and from thinking what a pain in the ass the voice was.

'_Good, now listen here, BUM,'_ the voice stressed out the last syllable deliberately, which Orwyn suspected the voice might be enjoying judging from how frequent the voice used that word._ 'It's up to you whether you want to believe me or not, but I think I'm the very last person you want to see….or rather…hear.'_

'…'

'_I'm Queur….the person you were so bent on sacrificing.'_

Orwyn sucked his next breath so sharply, he half-expected to see blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

'I said 'Don't think. Just listen',' Queur landed his hand on top of Orwyn's forehead a little too hard when he felt the brother of his most beloved person started to form some thoughts. 'She'll rip you apart if she found out I was here.'

Rubbing his forehead, as it was actually painful, Orwyn stared ahead trying to clear his mind of any thoughts but actually failed miserably. However, fearing his forehead might actually swell as large as his head, he quickly changed his strategy and thought of something else; some amoral, censored, erotic, illicit and equally taboo in their society. And it worked.

"Wow, you disgust me, brother," Corintha had to wrinkle her nose a bit when Orwyn's thought reached her mind. Who had thought a person as pious as Orwyn would have dirty thoughts like that? "Guess all men ever want from a women is that thing, huh?'"

'_Yee…aaa…hhhh,'_ Queur drawled. _'I think I have to agree with Corinth in this thing. But anyhow, listen to what I'm going to tell you because sooner or later, the more she killed, the more powerful she'll become. And when she's that powerful, even the slightest hint of my presence will alert her and that'll be the end of you and….ME!' _

Orwyn's hand shook as if he was the epicenter for a small earthquake. He still couldn't accept the fact that his sister was responsible for all those macabre and horrendous things.

'_You better believe it, BUM, 'cause even if you don't, you're still going to die. Now listen,' _Queur stopped for a while, maybe trying to find his breath, if he still had any.

'_I want you to take a knife and slice up your wrist a little,_' Queur said it so casually, Orwyn had no choice but to choke and scream. "Are you mad? What the hell were you thinking?" His voice sounded like thunder to the ears of those who were listening; to both Corintha and Queur. Corintha just continued looking at her brother, thinking that maybe all the events that had been raveling in front of him, the bitter reality of it, were finally driving him crazy. She still hadn't realized Queur's presence yet, mostly because the latter tried very hard to keep it that way and partly, Orwyn was actually thinking of how painful it must've been for someone to mutilate his own flesh.

Queur, however, was far from being impressed by Orwyn's public display of his emotions. _'That's it, bum, you've asked for it,' _and smacked the royal's head for the umpteenth time that day._ 'Why not just scream at the top of your lungs and announce to your sister that I am here with you, that I'm trying to put an end to this absurdity. Why not put up a sign that says 'Queur's here and you're welcome to kill him if you want to'?'_

Orwyn rubbed his painful forehead and could almost swear that he felt a small bump forming. He felt quiet embarrassed for putting Queur's existence in jeopardy. "Sorry," before he could stop himself from saying the word, it had already slipped past his mouth and that in turn earned him another smack from Queur and a very troubled and confused look from Corintha.

Orwyn hung his head, feeling like a small child unable to control his mouth and he actually felt bad about it. As if he understood Orwyn's emotional ride, Queur said softly, 'I guess it was out of line for me to say that huh? I'm sorry,' and actually sounded so sincere. 'But I still have to ask you to do it. The both of us now do not have the power to stop her. At this moment, nobody can't. I fear you'll all die. Unfortunately, she'll live and she'll continue living as long as she has her life force; the human souls.!'

Orwyn stifled the urge to vomit there and then. 'No chance at all to survive?' he didn't even want to stop himself from asking that question. He didn't care anymore if Corintha heard it or not. But since it was only a statement of devastation uttered by someone who had just lost his last hope of survival, the latter just dismissed it as trivial. Normal in fact for someone who had just seen his entire life flew by in front of his eyes.

'Almost none at all,' Queur answered softly. He hated the way Orwyn's quivered when the question was uttered. He hated the screams adorning the background music. But most of all he hated himself for being the reason of that hideous display of vengeance. 'But you, Orwyn, at least you have a small chance of survival if you do what I just asked of you. Anyway, it's just a little cut so that I could transfer some of my power to you.' A lengthy pause. Confusion marred the prince's face, but this time he stifled any remarks and continued displaying the image of devastation in front of him in his mind to stop himself from thinking about what Queur had just said.

A long sigh and the handsome spirit continued, hesitation lacing his deep voice_. 'I was never a black magic practitioner and I think you already know that. But none of you know is that I'm blessed, or rather was blessed with a special ability; ability to manipulate the energy around me. The ability to practice magic. But what makes us, my clan that is; different from the black magic user is that we do not need to submit ourselves as slaves to the other beings from which their powers are drawn. We just need to open ourselves to the elements around us and we can draw the abundant energy and mould it into anything we want,'_ Queur had to stop, not only because he had ran out of breath (as if he still had any), but also the face that Orwyn bore right now did not bode well.

And his intuition was right. The black-haired prince turned to his sister and before Queur could do anything, popped out the question. "So, Corinth, you're a black magic user, huh? So what kind of demons are you in league with?" the question was asked quite frankly that it hit Corintha like cold splash of winter stream. Of all the list of questions Corintha had anticipated coming out of her brother's mouth, that was never made it into the cut. "Hmm, good question, bro. No, let me rephrase that. Bull's eye, bro. You're right. I am a black magic user. So now you know, what are you going to do about it? You know really well the reason why I submitted myself to all of this. Shame on you, Orwyn," Corintha clicked her tongue dramatically, all the while shooting her brother accusing, dirty looks.

Orwyn had to shut his eyes tightly. He admitted his lack of compassion pushed Corintha over the point of no return, but he could not be blamed for all these. Everybody was responsible for their own actions. He chose to ignore Corintha's pleas for help and now he was paying for it in the form of his life. But it was thoroughly unfair for the evil bitch to pin everything onto his shoulder.

"That's a cheap shot, Corinth, to wash clean the blood off your hands and then poured them onto me. Everybody's responsible for what they've done. I have to bear what I did, the neverending guilt of it. Now you want me to shoulder yours? That's a joke!" Orwyn screamed the last words, surprising both Corintha and Queur. Corintha stood unmoving for a while, something actually didn't seem right to her. how could Orwyn knew about black magic? He hated that stuff and Orwyn never wanted to know something that he hated. Something was there to guiding her brother. Something that she could not see or feel. Something incorporeal and ethereal. And she could almost feel it.

Queur gasped. _'I think we're in deep shit, Orwyn. She sensed me just now,'_ the dead noble swallowed hard. He could actually feel something ran through him, as if checking whether he was actually there or not. And, he suspected, no, without any doubt know that it was Corintha's conscience checking her surroundings. _'What a pain in the ass,'_ he gritted out to no one in particular. _'Orwyn, you have to do it now. She knows I'm here.' _He bellowed in the prince's head.

That actually brought Orwyn back to reality, quenching his anger at the same moment. 'No!'

"What is the 'No' for, brother?" Corintha asked mischievously. Something was there with her brother and she knew it. But who? She needed more information and then decided that she had to let her brother continue the game if she was to find the answer she was seeking.

'_Orwyn, now, please!'_ Queur was frantically pleading at the prince. Corintha's power suddenly was increasing rapidly, her tentacles of power brushing the surrounding. Queur was sure if those wretched things him, some unwanted reaction would happen. Something he would not dare to imagine. But despite his growing fear, the sight of the unmoving Orwyn irked him more, surpassing his terror. 'Orwyn, please!'

Still the prince didn't move and the tentacles were drawing near. Another few minutes and he could no longer escape at all. All would be in vain. '_Orwyn….'_

The tentacles grew closer. Orwyn just stood there, eyes blinking stupidly. Corintha was smiling wider. And there was nothing he could do.

'_Orwyn!'_

To be continued…

A/N: Arghh…this is the longest I've gone without any update and also the longest chapter, I believe. I apologized sincerely for the lack of progress but please do not worry, I have no intention to abandon my baby. I hope I can get the next update within a month but I cannot promise. I wish I have 48 hours/day. Please do not stop supporting me, a'rite? Next chapter: The Final Confrontation: [Still Unknown]…well that's the first. Maybe it'll be the last chapter, maybe not…..A lot of maybes…

P/S: Please bear with me about the Orwyn/Queur and the power transfer theory for a while OK? I'll explain e'thing in the next chappy. I would be glad to answer any question though….


	15. The Truth Behind It All

Wowww….. I cannot believe that almost 2 years had come and gone since my last update (and 3 years since I started this fic). I'm sorry that this last update took a very…and I mean a veryyy long time! I was caught up in my own battle which still hasn't ended. I almost forgot that I still have some things that are very dear to me, and one of them being my stories. Thank you for sticking with me from the first sentence to the very last of them…..well…almost last.

Disclaimer: Like always, I DO NOT OWN Kyou Kara Maou...not then, not now, not ever. Happy?!

* * *

Chapter 15: The Final Confrontation: The Truth Behind It All

Present time

Wolfram was drifting in and out of consciousness, feeling the indescribable warmth he felt creeping all over his somewhat cold physical. The warmth of a brother's touch, the warmth of a fiancé's love, and the warmth of safety, short-lived it might be, made him feel a lot better despite everything that had happened. The blonde tightened his grip around Conrart's neck; reminiscing the time he would pester Conrart to piggyback him, and how his Little Big Brother would always relent to his pestering; reminiscing the time when the two of them would play their 'It' version, with Wolfram always the 'It' and he would chase the brunette with a huge fireball hovering above his palm (Wolfram was always a gifted Fire Mazoku) and how they would laugh crazily when the fireball caught their mother's lacey drapes and turned the pink curtain to cinder. Everything felt like a thousand years ago, when all of it still made some sense. Contented, he closed his eyes, inhaling the smell of his brother's sweat and savoring it, as if it could be his last.

"Wolfram, stay with me," the blond vaguely heard a voice calling at him desperately. "Damn it, Wolf. You can't just give up, not after all we've been through." Wolfram could felt the panic rising in that voice and he desperately wished he could do something to ease the pain the voice was obviously feeling, but the darkness shapeless hands had already embraced him into oblivion and Wolfram actually welcomed the escape.

The voice that was actually calling for the blond was none other than his own fiancé. The black-haired royalty, himself covered in bruised and scratches and caked with blood, was walking behind Conrart and Wolfram when the latter suddenly went limp. Fearing that Wolfram had already passed on, Yuuri tried in vain to pump all of his maryoku into the ashen prince, seeking to fuel the fire inside Wolfram that had almost died out when the both of them faced Corintha during the last confrontation just under an hour ago.

Conrart quickly put his brother down when he heard Yuuri's frantic calls for him. Conrart already pale face looked as if no blood circulated underneath the flesh. With a barely audible voice, the valiant soldier called out to his baby brother, "Wolfram?" But, the person Conrart was trying to call back didn't even stirred, not even a muscle, not even when his eldest brother slapped him as hard as his faltered bravado could spare him.

"What are you doing, Gwen? You're hurting him," Conrart's hand caught Gwendal's just as he was about to land a second strike.

"Not as much as he will be when he wakes up, scaring me like this," Gwendal withdrew his hands from Conrart's clutches and quickly hid them behind his back but not as quick as he had hoped. The middle brother could see, for the briefest of moment, how the hands of the great man trembled from the fear of losing his dear brother. How his eyes twitched every three seconds, and how his heart threatened to give out even at the slightest of surprise, since their brother took on Corintha.

Conrart turned to face Yuuri, who, to his credit, was still trying unfalteringly to pump as many healing maryoku he'd possessed into the lifeless body of the blond prince. With sweat glistening on his forehead, Yuuri looked dementedly scared, his eyes bore no emotion except horror; the horror of losing the only person he ever truly loved and cared, and to make things worse, without ever telling him so. If Wolfram was to die right there and then, he would die knowing that Yuuri never love him back. Conrart felt terribly at loss upon seeing how tormented Yuuri looked at that moment, and wishing that he could somehow spare the youth all the hurt but what was done, was done. And he had to ask, no matter how much pain the soukoku was obviously in.

"Yuuri," Conrart never intended for his voice to sound harsh, but it did, and maybe the harshness of the usually soft, calm voice that made Yuuri looked up from his apparently impossible task.

"Hmm?" the soldier had to look away when he saw Yuuri's eyes; red, puffy brimming with endless pain. Conrart had to look away. He couldn't let himself be dragged into that pool of misery that was Yuuri's eyes or everything would definitely end badly for them.

Conrart swallowed hard before continuing, "I know that you're trying very hard to revive him, Your Majesty, but Wolfram needs to be tended by someone's who is professionally qualified. And by that, I mean by someone at Blood Pledge Castle. Can you, umm, zap us back to the castle just like the way you used your maryoku to bring us here?"

Yuuri looked at the soldier like he didn't understand the initial question. After a minute or so, he looked down again and resumed the task that he'd forsaken just now, more vigorously than before, without so much as an answer to the awaiting audiences.

Gwendal gritted his teeth and started walking towards the zombie-like king, bending on giving him a piece of his mind. But before he could even open his mouth, Yuuri interrupted him with an earth shattering revelation.

"I can't," he cried, his mouth barely opened to let his shrill voice out, making it sounded rather like a trapped mouse squeaking for help. His head remained down, eyes transfixed on his fiancé.

"What?!" Gwendal bellowed, uncertain with what he'd just heard. The Maou couldn't? For goodness sake, he was THE Maou, the Maou whose power even surpassed the Great One. "That's bullshit," he spat. "Can't or won't?" His voice quivered trying to control his anger from erupting. Now was not the best of time to be doing exactly that.

Yuuri looked up slowly, uncertainty marred his face. Saying nothing, he just stared at the elder man as if trying to determine whether or not he should tell him. After what seemed like days, with Wolfram lying helplessly in front of him, he finally opened his mouth to reveal another shocking fact that made all of them stopped whatever they were doing and just stared at him dumbfounded, wishing that they didn't just hear it.

"I lost most of my maryoku when I took Corintha down…"

* * *

An hour ago ～The Final Showdown～

"Run where? Where can we possibly hide from her?" Murata was running with the miniature Shinou dangling over his shoulder. All of them were running as fast as they could from the pressing power that Corintha was unleashing. Just a moment ago, the atmosphere around them had become unbearably hot and extremely hard to breathe in, an indication that Corintha was losing her control over her power and letting it run amuck and uncontrollable. At the moment, the Great Sage was more worried about the conditions of the rest of them. Gwendal had to be helped by Yozak and Wolfram had effectively became unconscious a few minutes ago and was now carried by Conrart, who held his brother like he was the most precious bundle in the whole wide world. Yuuri was carrying the semi-conscious Asha, who, despite her grave injuries, kept insisting that the Maou put her down; that she could still walk, which Yuuri just dismissed as some sort of fear towards him for being the Maou.

Shinou just looked ahead, a look of utter fear and hopelessness stretched across his face. For heaven's sake, he didn't have the answer for that question. He just followed his survival instinct and that instinct at this moment told him to run as fast as he could from the writhing being in the middle of the cave. It didn't state exactly where to go, though. "Honestly, my sage, I don't know. I don't even know what we're running away from exactly, why we should fear her power and why we're all going to die if we stay back there. Honestly, I don't know."

Murata face fell. Usually, if this kind of things happened, Shinou would have one or two, sometimes not very, brilliant ideas to solve it. And if he happened to reach his wit's end, then he, the Great Sage, would offer the solution. But now, at this very crucial moment of life and death, none of them could offer anything. But, as ironic as it was, all of them would die if none of them did anything. And he still wanted to live. Of all his reincarnations, this was by far the best journey he'd had. And he wanted it to continue like that for at least a few decades more.

The rest of them who were following behind the teenager closely could hear the conversation that just took place between the two Greats and none of them like it. Gwendal, in his semi-conscious state, calmly yet coldly said to Yozak, "Stop."

"What?" the orange-haired soldier shouted a few decibels higher than the usually tolerated range which earned him a slap at the back of his head.

"Do you actually have to yell like that?" the eldest son of the previous Maou irritatingly rub his forehead. The enormous power from Corintha was still draining his strength and this idiot actually added to his misery by yelling beside his ears as loud as he possibly could. Yozak looked at the older man with imploring eyes while his legs were busy picking up the paces that he had lost by Gwendal's abrupt order. Gwendal, as he looked into his brother's best friend's eyes, seemed to understand a little bit the dilemmas the younger man was suffering from.

"I know what you're thinking, Yozak. I regret that too. But if we keep on running with no idea what to do next, eventually we'll run out of energy and run out of place to run. If we would eventually die, we might as well die here where we can actually fight and die trying rather than die like some cornered and frightened animals. Furthermore, we might actually succeed in stopping her, who knows?" For once in his life, Gwendal sounded like a scared child although he tried to assert as much strength in his voice as he could. This time, he lacked conviction and that scared the rest of them to death. That in turn slowed down their paces considerably. All delved deeper into their thoughts with less or no regards at all to the current surrounding. All seemed to be preparing their unavoidable and tragic deaths. Even Shinou seemed somber enough not to be playing tricks and making silly jokes about the situation.

However, before they can venture further into their thoughts, a small and quivering voice broke the trance-like situation they were in. "Put me down, Conrart," was the only thing Wolfram said before he seemed to slump back into unconsciousness, leaving his brother to question himself whether he was hearing things or that did actually happen.

"I said, put me down," this time the voice was stronger and louder, enough to make Conrart do whatever it told him to do. Carefully, he put the weak prince onto the floor, trying so hard not to cause any more damage to his already injured brother. Swaying dangerously from the intense headache, Wolfram stood as tall as he could without vomiting his last meal, while his hands were busy slapping off unwanted helping hands from his uncharacteristically fussy fiancé.

"Wolfram, I thought you were…," Yuuri couldn't bring himself to actually utter the word. Seeing his supposedly dead fiancé in front of him almost back to his old grouchy self made him feel relieved beyond words. "What happened? One moment I couldn't feel even the slightest spark inside of you and now, all of the sudden, you're….you're…you again."

"Do we even have a second to spare to hear my sad tale? I don't think so," Wolfram turned around to face his impending doom. Corintha was still on the floor writhing with the reddish gaseous substance still leaking out of her. The blond shivered despite the warm weather. He knew this was the point of no return for him. Once he'd chosen, he had to live, or die most likely, with the consequences that follow. The least he could do was to tell them the truth, even if that meant wasting the little precious time they had left.

"You know, Yuuri, you're right. You have the right to know…..all of you. And then, when you've finally heard my side of the story….or rather Queur and Owyn's side, I want you to let me do whatever that is needed to be done. Don't try to interfere because this is a very delicate matter. Any wrong turn and we're all going to die for sure."

"Queur? Orwyn? Who's Queur? Who's Orwyn?" Shinou asked rather grumpily. Why didn't he know anything about these new characters? How could these Queur and Orwyn escape his inescapable radar?

"Well….long story cut short, Queur was the original Corintha's lover and Orwyn was her brother, the two main reasons why she turned out the way she is…."

* * *

10,000 years ago

'_Orwyn! Hurry up….do it!' _

Orwyn looked like he was in a trance. The tentacles grew ever closer. Queur closed his eyes (he thought he did; he wasn't even sure if he still had those), as tightly as he could. He could not bear to watch Orwyn being butchered by his lover-turned-bloodthirsty-monster. He waited, and counted the seconds he would actually hear the horrible screams and the sound of flesh being ripped apart. But none of it came. Instead, he could feel warm, sticky substance calling for him. Orwyn's blood. And just in the nick of time, Queur touched the prince's bleeding hands and a blinding light ensued.

"What?!" The tentacles were stopped mid-air, suspended 3 meters above ground as if a number of invisible hands had effectively grabbed hold of them and refused to let go. Corintha was taken by the surprise 'attack' and actually drew her breath aloud, disoriented by the intense light and the grab, though wasn't particularly painful, sent some sort of tingling through the tentacles into her entire body. "What the hell is happening?" She couldn't help but asked that question aloud. _'What the hell was that?' _The bright light hadn't entirely gone out but had significantly diminished compared to 5 seconds before. Blinking her eyes a few times, she could finally see her brother's silhouette looming tall in front of her. But something was amiss in the way her brother was standing; it reminded her of…..

"Queur?" her voice choked with unshed tears. Uncertain, she tried to step forward, hoping to close the gap between them but she couldn't move at all. Neither did the figure for that matter. The unseen hands were still grabbing her tentacles tightly, unwilling to let go. By this time, Corintha had already lost more than half of her normal appearance. Her slender body was slowly turning into something indescribably distorted. Her eyes lacked life in them; her once luscious lips were now eerily resembled something drawn out of their horror bedtime stories, fangs decorating the full length of them. Even her voice seemed weird, distorted by her mutating mouth.

After what seemed like an eternity, the light finally ebbed away revealing a whole new truth. The figure that was standing in front of her was in fact her brother, as it should be. But there was something off with him. Orwyn no longer what he seemed to be, but rather a reminder of what Queur used to be when he was alive. _'This is absurd. Queur is dead,'_ Corintha stubbornly denied what she was feeling but something inside her, a tiny piece of her grudgingly admitted, _'….but I felt him just now. I swear I felt him in my accursed bones just now.'_

Orwyn himself was feeling a little bit disoriented. He felt his head was turning dizzily and that he wasn't really in control of himself. He felt that something was actually inhabiting his body like a parasitic presence; not exactly threatening but nonetheless intrusive. _'That is me, moron,'_ came Queur reply. _'Well, not me actually…that was half of my power that I've transferred to you…..and just at the nick of time, I MIGHT ADD.' _

"Sorry!" Orwyn replied, wincing a little bit as the voice echoed inside his head. The reason he felt so not at ease was because the power was still not compatible with his body. The power still sought some familiarity between the old container and the new one. That was the downside that Queur failed to mention beforehand. If the power decided that Orwyn was not compatible, it will slowly disintegrate the royal from within and death would be excruciatingly painful. Well, compare to Orwyn's fate if he was left to die by his sister's doing, this fate seemed more humane, though, he thought somberly.

'_You're kidding right? Disintegrate? Slowly? You're joking, right? Please tell me that you are.'_ Unexpectedly, as the power tried to find any semblance between its two owners, a bond was formed between those two; some sort of mental bond that allowed it's wielders to be one. A bond that could be useful but dangerous if possessed by the wrong hands. And that bond enabled Orwyn to actually know what Queur was thinking without the latter saying it out loud. _'Tell me that you're kidding, Queur?'_

The realization that they actually shared their mind hadn't sunk yet on Orwyn but it had on Queur. Without even trying to conceal his annoyance, he thought, _'Since you can read my mind, and I yours, Orwyn, you know that I'm not lying. What's the use of lying to yourself anyway?'_

'_Then, this uneasiness that I'm experiencing, this nuisance I'm feeling in my stomach that is slowly turning into a pain, is actually the power trying to adapt itself to the new environment? What have you done to me?'_ Orwyn screamed.

Queur was silent for a while, thinking nothing. What was the use of thinking when Orwyn could hear all of them? After a while, Queur answered with another question of his own, _'Orwyn, why do you think I did that? Why do you think I went to great length to have my power transferred to you? Why do you think I came back from the dead just to pass my powers to you? I could just stay dead, you know, but I chose not to. Why?'_

'_How should I know? I don't think I could ever fathom your reason so I don't really care. AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN ANSWER MY QUESTION.' _Orwyn huffed.

'_I did…in my own way,' _the spirit's tone was softer. There he was, standing in front of the last remaining member of the La Una royal family. The last scratch of evidence of the once proud civilization. The last memento of the whole race. He knew that the transfer could kill the last man standing, but deep down inside, he had this feeling that Orwyn would pass the test; a bit cruel to be gambling with someone else's life, but what choice did he had? Both, if all went wrong, would end up with Orwyn dying. He might as well take the chance. _'You're the last of everything this people, this race, this civilization represents, Orwyn. I cannot let it all end, not like this at least. There are a lot of things needed to be mended. If all of us, including you, ended up in the ditch, who's going to relay the information about who Corintha really is to the future folks? How can they understand what evil befalls them when there's not even a trace of us remains? I need you….no…..we all need you to stay alive and to pass this information down to those who can actually kill her.'_

'_We cannot kill her…right here, right now?'_ The monarch's voice quivered a little bit. He thought he could end this nightmare there and then but Queur, being a spoil sport as he was, ruined everything by answering the question with a simple shake of his head. _'Why?' _he croaked.

Queur looked sadly at the temporarily paralyzed being that no longer resembled the one woman he ever loved. Tears welled in his unseen eyes, he felt his throat constricted. _'Because….,'_ he had to take a long breath before continuing, brokenly'_…because we no longer know her, Orwyn.'_

* * *

"Why Mazokus can wield elements?" When he had finished telling what had really happened 10,000 years ago, Wolfram grew quiet, choosing to let the rest of the lot to swallow everything in. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, he started again by asking that ridiculous question.

"Erm…should we know? I don't think this is the right time to do just that, Wolf," Yuuri spoke as soft as he could as to not aggravate the fire-wielder. "We have a much pressing thing to think about."

Wolfram looked at Yuuri as if the latter had just struck him hard across the face. "It's so typical of you, Yuuri, to just assume what seemingly look like an insignificant matter as something completely insignificant. Look can be deceiving; didn't you learn anything from everything that has been happening around you lately?"

Now it was Yuuri's time to look as if Wolfram had just slapped him. "Well….first of all, what good will it be if we were to start studying our history right here when our own history is about to be rewritten from 'exist' to 'extinct'?"

A lot of gasps could be heard. Wolfram's face was red as beet; a great accomplishment considering he had just lost a lot of blood. By then, everybody was half-expecting a second war to ensue. This time between those two. The atmosphere grew tense for a while before suddenly a loud exclamation could be heard behind them; Shinou with a big grin plastered on his face. His reaction was what probably saved the day.

"Wait a minute! I get it!" Shinou looked elated with his discovery. He jumped from Murata's shoulder straight to Wolfram's, all the while smirking. Murata gritted his teeth when he saw the smug look dancing across Shinou's boyish face. _'I feel like smacking him on the head.'_

Shinou waited until everyone's attention was on him. With a very dramatic sigh, he repeated Wolfram's last question, "Why Mazokus can wield elements?" Silence. Too long for everybody's liking. Murata was way passed annoyed.

"Shinou, stop playing games and just tell us why."

Shinou looked bemused. "I'm pretty shocked you couldn't figure out the answer, my dear Great Sage. The answer to that lies in the story that Wolfram had just told us. You need not search under the stone or dive deep into the sea. All you have to do is scratch a little bit of the surface and the answer is there." When he saw there was no flicker of idea in Murata's eyes, instead he only saw fire; small at first but getting bigger by the seconds, the flame feeding from Murata's anger, he finally relented. "The reason why is…..that we're related to Orwyn. We're his descendants. Each of us carry a small portion of Queur's power; the power that he bestowed Orwyn." Shinou turned to Wolfram, his eyes full of questions. "He survived, didn't he? Orwyn survived, right?"

"Yes." His eyes were sad, the unshed tears reflecting the sunlight, making them appear sadder, "And that makes Corintha our ancestor too."

A total silence washed over them. Even without saying or doing anything, the knowledge itself drained them from their energy. Corintha might be evil but the blood that made their course through their veins at this moment used to be the same as the blood that ran through her veins. Ironic as that might look in the eyes of an observer, she was one of them. She was like their long-lost relatives. How could they kill her without actually killing a part of them?

"So what are we going to do, Wolf?" Conrart asked his little brother. Somehow, subconsciously, they all had unanimously elected Wolfram as their leader; the person they turned to if they have something about Corintha or this whole situation that they wanted to ask about. But for Wolfram, who used to love basking in all the attention that the people around him gave him, he just didn't and couldn't enjoy the limelight this time; the responsibility was too huge for a mere one person to bear.

"What did Annisina's experiments revealed?" Instead, he turned his sea-green eyes towards his brother.

"She said nothing."

"She said nothing? How….umm…convenient. Usually, her head is so full of smart remarks and things to say, I feel like jumping off a bridge just so I don't have to listen to her. But, she said nothing?" Wolfram could barely believe his ears. "What is this world coming to?"

Conrart had to smile a little, hearing Wolfram's ranting but that was not what he meant by 'nothing'. "Wolfram, she DID say a lot of things, not nothing. What I meant by nothing is…..there was nothing she found out of the experiments. Meaning that we don't how on earth to defeat our great, great, great ancestor. Meaning the phrase 'Fire dislikes water' means NOTHING since we don't know to use that to our own advantage. Meaning we're groping in the dark here." But Murata and the Great One weren't really listening at all; their minds were already reverberating with Aelya's statement.

_The most important thing to remember is, whatever element the user's victim was associated with, the user will inherit that. In short, Corintha is still carrying that brat's element. Fire. Although the transfer was never finished, Corintha did manage to suck a little bit of the infant's soul. I doubt the child ever got everything back. It is made evidence when Corintha started to develop a certain dislike of water. While normal Fire Mazoku can get into contact with water without any consequence, it seems like Corintha was mortally afraid of that element. And for some reason, after what that brat's brother did to her, Corintha seemed unable to do any of the long term ritual._

Both looked at each other and grinned rather victoriously. Somehow, that phrase meant something to those two than the rest of them. Somehow, the true meaning of Aelya's last entry in her life chronicle only came to them as they stood on the verge of death, cornered like some doomed animals, neither able to take a step forward nor move backward.

"I say, my sage, I rather like your know-it-all smile. Care to actually share what is going on behind it?" Shinou jumped on Murata's shoulder, clutching lightly to the Great Sage's black hair, just enough to stabilize him but not enough to cause any discomfort on his _'vessel'_.

"Well, I have to contradict you on that, 'O Great One. It is you who has that unknowing smile, etches across your face like a total lunatic," Murata turned slightly to look at the smug spirit on his shoulder. Both of them smiled again, enjoying a secret between then that no one was unaware of.

That, in turn, irritated Gwendal to no end. Here they were, at the mercy of that 'thing', if you can call it thing, considering they didn't actually know what it was, while these two Shin Makoku's biggest idiots were smiling at each other like some dumb asses.

"Oii….stop that!" Gone a while was his respect to them, who were in turn looking at him like somebody just slapped them cold. "Are you actually aware that we're going to die unless we, and by we, I mean you two, do something?" Gwendal shouted at the two Greats while his brothers gawked at him, obviously stricken. Conrart moved forward a little bit and when he got close enough to Gwendal's ear, he whispered softly as so only the two of them could hear it.

"Aren't you going overboard a bit? They might turn you into something's supernatural, you know?"

"Better that and survive rather than being torn piece by piece by that monster," Gwendal replied monotonously.

The two greats continued looking at each other before turning to face the others, gracing them with their knowledge.

"Ah, but Lord Von Voltaire, we have our own reason to smile like that. We have our reason to be happy. We have found the way that might've work in stopping Corintha."

Silence.

"Areee…? I thought the idea of getting rid of her would appeal to you but if this silence is any indication, I sense some reluctance," Shinou smile faded a little.

Wolfram looked at Yuuri, conveying something with that stare that Yuuri, and only Yuuri could possibly understand. Nodding a bit, Yuuri turned to look at the Greats, "Will it kill her?" was his question.

This time, it was Shino and Murata's turned to look uneasy. "Well….umm, we don't know exactly how the outcome will be. Most likely it will, I have to say," Murata repositioned his glasses, although it was already alright in the first place, just so that he had something to do other than facing the lot.

"Then, your way is no good, then. When I first heard about what she had done to the innocent people, I too, was wrapped up in my quest for vengeance. But, upon hearing the real reason why, and after putting myself in her shoes, I no longer have the desire to kill her," Yuuri said, his voice dropped a couple of decibels lower. "No matter what she did, she still doesn't deserve to die, at least not until she's been given a chance to atone for what she had done in this life of before. No matter what she did, she still deserves to die a peaceful death." The Maou spoke, not without a hint of contempt in his voice at the idea of killing Corintha.

'_What the hell?!_' Yozak had to bit his lips just to stop himself from uttering those words out loud. '_After all she had done, she still deserves to die honorably? What about those people that she killed, those thousands of people that had died cursing the fate of this world? Don't they too deserve a peaceful death?'_

"Yes, they too deserved to die, in your word, honorably, with proper arrangements and loved ones mourning them. But Corintha didn't know better. She killed because in her mind, willpower to resist the devil that's controlling her does not exist anymore. Without willpower, she is no longer what she used to be. Without willpower, she is just an animal with a lust to kill. Do you want to become worse than her? Because at this moment, we still have that trait that define us as a human and Mazoku," Yuuri turned towards Yozak, but this time the contempt in his voice wasn't there anymore. What was left was genuine sadness for Corintha.

"Jeez, now you can read mind? How, umm, _in_….convenience."

"But, Heika, I think Corintha is past repentance. She, I think, no longer has control over the thing inside her. She might have lost the willpower long ago, whatever that is, but she was still able to control…" Murata turned to Shinou_, 'Psst…what is actually inside her, Shinou?'_ Shinou shook his head. '_Still vague, but I think some sort of devil or demon. Close to Soushu but not of the same origin, I think.'_ Murata nodded. "But before this, she was able to gain some control over the demon inside her. Her instinct to survive overrode her lack of willpower because she knows, the moment she loses control over it, she'll be the first to go. Now, she is nothing more other than a mere puppet being controlled by her master. We are actually doing her a favor by killing her."

"Yuuri, if she still has a little conscience inside her, I think she would want us to just end it for her. Because that was how I felt when Soushu was inside me, to have someone to end it once and for all so that I don't have to suffer anymore," Shinou voiced out his thought. "Although, I did that to save the world rather than destroy it," he added.

Maou/Yuuri looked at Shinou and fell silence. Usually, it was the Maou who had the last word but this time it seemed that Shinou might had a point. Sometimes, the path with the least resistance offered only a short-term solution. "It pains me to say this," the Maou finally opened his mouth after a considerable moment of silence, "but I think the Great One has a point. I personally do not condone the killing of other being. However, I want to be the one to do it because I do believe I can still find a way of expelling the thing inside her without killing her, not spontaneously anyway. She has to die since she is already living on borrowed, no, stolen time," At this point, the Maou was looking straight at Wolfram. Apparently, Wolfram request of settling Corintha by himself was not lost to the Maou.

Wolfram ignored the look the Maou was giving him; he was pleading with Wolfram not to do whatever he had intended to do. However, he had to do something. Of course, the final blow must not come from him since they shared a connection so powerful; his soul. Furthermore, his soul was Queur's soul, the love of her life, the reason this abomination managed to take place. No, the final attack must come from Yuuri, the water wielder. But, there was something else that he had to do before Yuuri would be able to defeat Corintha, something that he would not divulge to the other, even to Yuuri. For this must be done by him and him alone.

* * *

A/N:Gosh….how time flies. Before this I just had to handle my studies but now I'm already in the rat race. I bet some of my followers have also grown up and maybe do not have the time to read my story anymore. Well…I should've finished this aeons ago….Hope you enjoyed reading this second to last chapter to my story. I cannot promise you the next update but I'll try to have it out before the year ends. Muahaha….BTW, would love to read some nice reviews and your thoughts on this story. Maybe how I should end it perhaps….and what is Wolfram up to? And how did Yuuri take Corintha down? All will be revealed in the next chapter... (^^) V


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